


Escape from the Island of Doctor Moreau

by Sunfish314



Category: Orphan Black (TV)
Genre: Adventure, Caretaking, F/F, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Recovery, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-14
Updated: 2017-09-28
Packaged: 2018-12-02 04:55:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 23,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11502198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sunfish314/pseuds/Sunfish314
Summary: Picks up at the S4 finale, when Cosima and Delphine have their heartbreaking reunion in the yurt. Some action, and much fluff. Delphine gives Cosima the injection that will cure her; but it's not magic, it takes time, time when a certain stubborn someone should be resting but isn't. Cosima is determined to escape the island and get the cure home to her sisters, and take Charlotte away from all this madness. Delphine is afraid Cosima isn't strong enough to travel yet...let alone, sneak off mad scientist island in the dead of winter without being caught. But Cosima is stubborn as hell and Delphine won't be left behind. They'll get themselves home no matter what. In which everyone gets to live happily ever after...especially Cophine. Obvs.





	1. The Yurt

 

 

            Cosima woke up in a strange room with round walls. Everything was fuzzy; not just her vision, her brain felt fuzzy too. She’d thought Delphine was there… _you were just delirious_ , she told herself firmly, feeling her heart sink as reality washed back over her. She was trapped on an insane, frozen island full of mad eugenicists. Delphine was dead. Memories swam unevenly through the woozy dreadlocked girl’s mind; grabbing little Charlotte and their cure in its vials, ready to escape to the boat that was supposedly waiting for them…then seeing Rachel stab her own mother…running recklessly out into frozen night with her baby sister…so frozen it twisted up the ever-present pain in her chest until it was blinding, taking all her breath away, her blood splattering the snow with her coughs. Charlotte had been so brave. Her nine-year-old sister had been the one to force her to persist, to get up again, to keep going.

            _Charlotte_ …where was Charlotte? The sudden memory of her littlest sister brought Cosima’s mind more sharply into focus, as panic for the child’s safety welled up in her aching chest. She tried to sit up, but she just couldn’t. Her whole body felt as heavy as lead. She could barely move. An IV tube tugged at her arm when she reached shakily for her glasses on the bedside table. 

            “Hey, shh, take it slow, mon petit chiot…” Suddenly Delphine’s warm hand was on her forehead, her familiar smell everywhere, like a clean, full breath of golden summer inside her frozen lungs. Delphine’s smile, that smile that made Cosima feel like the only girl in the world, every time. When Delphine smiled at her, the tattooed girl knew in every corner of her heart that she was loved. Immeasurably. Like Pi…like sacred geometry. 

            “You’re the puppy,” Cosima whispered, her voice coming out as a raspy croak as she beamed sleepily up at the blonde doctor, chapped lips cracking slightly when she smiled. “Delphine…you’re…real…thought I dreamed you when I was dying…”

            “I told you, I would not let you die Cosima,” Delphine murmured, kissing her and rubbing their noses together like kittens, one hand rubbing her stomach, which finally felt warm again. Nope. Definitely not dead. Definitely feeling the alive-feelings.

            “I never thought I’d hear you say my name again,” the dark-haired girl murmured woozily, her smile lighting up her whole face despite how deathly pale she still was. “Nobody else says my name the way you do…I just want to hear you say my name forever…”

            “Cosima…” Delphine whispered slowly in her ear, her voice conveying the same profound reassurance that the sleepy tattooed girl always felt in her presence. She was loved. She was safe. _Charlotte._

            “Delphine…where’s my little sister?”

            “You must not worry, mon coeur. Charlotte is fine, she is eating breakfast with the family next door. You kept her warmer than you kept yourself, chérie.” As if on cue, Cosima coughed, cupping a hand over her mouth out of habit to protect Delphine from getting spattered with her blood. But when she took her hand away…there was no blood. She stared at her clean fingers in woozy confusion.

            “Why isn’t there any blood?” She asked blankly.

            “I gave you your injection while you were asleep. It will take time, you know, to have the full effect…but already it is working.” She picked up a sheaf of papers from the bedside table, test readouts by the look of it. Cosima realized she must’ve been out for a long time. “You have done it, all by yourself. You found your cure, my brilliant, brave girl.” Delphine stroked her cheek and kissed her again.

            “I did? I really did?” Cosima coughed again, and winced, rubbing her chest. It still hurt a lot, though she never complained, not ever. She couldn’t stand the expressions of pity on people’s faces…once someone saw you as sick, they never saw you as anything else, she knew that. She’d fought so fucking hard to keep that sickness from sucking away her identity.

            “You did,” Delphine nodded, kissing the end of her nose. Cosima beamed, soaking up the attention from the one person she didn’t mind fussing over her. “The vectors are working already, I have seen it. But you must still rest yourself, chérie…it may be a slow recovery for you, I think,” the blonde girl hummed lovingly, her fingers stroking Cosima’s face endlessly. “You have been sick a long time, your immune system is like a beaten army. And now you have also hypothermia. We must take very good care of you, yes? Come, let me examine you mon amour…”

Cosima submitted herself willingly to Delphine’s loving hands, not that she could have put up a fight right now even if she’d wanted to. Just trying to sit up made her chest ache like it was weighed down by a ton of bricks. Delphine poked and prodded her with exquisite gentleness, warming the stethoscope with her breath before pressing it to Cosima’s bare skin. The dark-haired girl realized then that she was wearing nothing but her lacy bra and underwear; she had a dim memory of having her shirt cut off her, Delphine’s frantic face looking down at her. It was all swirling around her foggy head, she couldn’t quite hold on to one single thought all the way through to the end.

            “Why are we here?”

            “Shh…do not worry now, puppy. Just rest. I am here…I am right here beside you. The rest can wait. You must go back to sleep now, mon coeur. You are so tired…”

            “Okay...just...cuddle me…please,” Cosima whispered, too out of sorts to be ashamed of her neediness with the one person she’d spent the last six months convincing herself she didn’t need. “Like you did before, when I got here…that was real too, wasn’t it? You kept me warm…”

            “Yes, love. It was all real.” Delphine beamed at her like the sun, stroking the side of her face. Cosima coughed again, curling weakly onto her side to make it easier to breathe through it. The blonde girl slipped off her seat beside the bed, and back under the covers beside her in an instant, rubbing her back while she coughed and whispering loving assurances in her ear, just like she used to. “Shh, you are all right now…just keep breathing…keep breathing…” When the coughing jag finally passed, Cosima whimpered and went limp in Delphine’s arms again, slightly dizzy now, her chest pounding painfully.

            “Uhhh…I don’t think I can stand up,” the woozy girl croaked miserably.

            “Oui, I know…this is why you must sleep, puppy.” Delphine smiled reassuringly and kissed the end of her nose again. Cosima couldn’t help smiling back, despite how awful she felt. She’d forgotten how much she loved hearing Delphine call her _puppy_. Whether in French or English, it made her tummy flood with happy butterflies every time. “Here, I will give you some cough medicine first, yes?”

            “Yes,” Cosima agreed quickly, much more quickly than she normally would. She would say yes to literally anything that came out of Delphine’s mouth right now. “But then…you hafta come back and cuddle…”

            “For the rest of our lives,” the blonde girl hummed in her lilting accent, kissing her love lightly on the lips one more time before rising to get the cough syrup from the medical supply cabinet. Cosima swallowed the bitter-tasting stuff obediently, then gratefully let Delphine help her take a drink of water. Without any further prompting, Delphine shed all her clothes again, just like she had when Cosima thought she was hallucinating. But this time it wasn’t frantic and panicked; it wasn’t slow and sexy, either. It was just calm and deliberate and glowing with love, warm and steady as the sun. They just grinned at each other like idiots. Cosima was still more comfortable lying on her side than her back, so Delphine crawled in facing her, wrapping one warm arm around her waist and rubbing their foreheads together.

            “You’re the puppy,” Cosima smiled, punch-drunk on the feeling of being wrapped up in the arms of the girl she loved, for the first time in what felt like a lifetime… she was so foggy and dazed, it all really felt like a dream, still. “Promise this is real,” she whispered, with a slightly softer and less painful cough as she snuggled up to the French girl’s familiar skin. It would always be familiar, even if they didn’t see each other for a decade.

            “I promise, mon petit chiot,” Delphine murmured, kissing Cosima’s forehead and drawing the frail girl as close as she could, like a human teddy bear. Their limbs tangled together as if by magnetic force. Once Delphine heard the dreadlocked girl’s soft breathing even out into sleep, she kissed the top of her head and added quietly, “Once we are no longer in this room…you may wish it was not real, after all.”

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

            The next time the tattooed girl opened her eyes, she was significantly more clearheaded. Despite her limbs being a little stiff from the previous night’s bout with hypothermia, she felt better than she had in months. The constant, low-level pain in her chest, the slightly muffled feeling in her lungs that never let her get a completely full breath, was gone. Just, gone. Just like that. She didn’t have that hollow, weak feeling, either; that you-could-tip-me-over-with-a-feather feeling. She felt…good. For real.

            _“Iiihshxuh!! *Snf.*”_ She cupped her hands hastily to her face as her eyes and nose scrunched up with a stuffy sneeze. Well…she still felt mad better. Maybe just not one hundred percent better.

            “À tes souhaits, ma chérie.” Delphine cuddled up to her sleep-warmed skin and kissed her forehead.

            “Thadks,” Cosima sniffed a little sheepishly, then coughed a little too. But it didn’t feel like the bloody death cough, not at all. It really felt like she just had a cold. It was practically nothing. “I actually _…*snf!*…_ I actually feel good. Really good.” Delphine raised an eyebrow skeptically; but she was still smiling. She couldn’t help it. Cosima was here in her arms, her sharp hazel eyes bright and full of life and curiosity. She was here. She was alive. They both were. In the midst of this nightmare, they had found their way back to each other.

            “Oui, I can see it in your eyes,” Delphine agreed, leaning in and stealing a soft kiss from Cosima’s warm lips, no longer cold and chapped. The blonde girl sighed almost euphorically when she felt her love’s hands stroking tenderly through her hair. “But you must still take things slowly, mon coeur. You have been so sick. You must not push yourself.”

            “Hardly the time and place for an extended vacation though, huh?” Cosima teased gently, raising one eyebrow. “Let’s get the hell out of here first, okay, and then I’ll chill when we get home. A week of PJ time…as long as you’re there in your PJ’s, too.” The tattooed girl was still grinning almost euphorically as her new reality washed over her in waves; the one where she wasn’t dying anymore. The one where she had the cure that would save her sisters right in her pocket, the cure she had found for them all through her blood, sweat and tears—literally. The one where Delphine was warm and alive and lying beside her under the homemade patchwork quilt.

With her patented, full-on Cosima Neihaus golden sunlight smile firmly in place—the one that had caused nine-year-old Kira to nickname her “sunfish”—she leaned in and kissed Delphine, slowly and deliberately, trailing her fingers teasingly up and down the blonde girl’s back. Delphine sighed into her mouth, her whole body turning liquid under Cosima’s touch.

“Still think I don’t have the strength for a super-stealthy escape from Eugenics Horror Island?” The dreadlocked girl teased. 

“I think…I do not want to test that question,” Delphine murmured back, and Cosima groaned and dropped her head impatiently onto the blonde girl’s chest.

“I get that you kind of got used to coddling me when I was sick, but seriously, this is _not_ the time. We’re prisoners on the _actual_ Island of Doctor-freakin-Moreau, we need to get this cure back home to my sisters without anyone finding out, we need to get Charlotte the hell out of this psycho-den. And I’m better now.” Of course her throat started to itch as soon as she proclaimed how totally better she was, and she coughed a little, rubbing her nose on her wrist. But still, it wasn’t the dying cough. It was a healing cough. Delphine still raised an eyebrow at her imperiously.

“Yes, clearly you are better,” the blonde doctor said sarcastically.

“I am,” Cosima replied impatiently, sitting up in bed so the covers fell down to her waist, showing off the insanely sexy, silver-grey lace bra that was the only piece of clothing she had left now. “You know that, babe. You shot me up yourself, didn’t you? You saw the test results, you showed me. I’m gonna be okay now, puppy. Can’t you please chill?” She cupped her hands to her face and sneezed again, and Delphine sat up and pulled the blankets back up over her bare shoulders.

“Cosima…” The sound of her name on Delphine’s lips was always heaven; even when she said it like that, reprovingly. In that way that really meant don’t-be-stubborn. But she _was_ stubborn. Like, genetically.

“Okay, fide _…*snf!*…_ I have a cold from being lost in the snow all night. I’m not dying from a cold, am I?” Cosima rubbed her nose on her wrist again impatiently. “Why are you so much more worried about me than I am?”

“Because I love you, you stupid, brilliant girl!” Delphine burst out, eyes flashing with desperation. “You almost died in my arms last night, _again._ And I cannot live without you.” They stared at each other in silence for a moment; then Cosima’s eyes filled up with tears, as she reached out and stroked Delphine’s cheek with a smile that somehow completely broke the blonde girl’s heart.

“You say that…but if you really thought I was dead…” Cosima’s voice died in her throat, and suddenly Delphine realized they weren’t talking about Cosima anymore. Cosima wasn’t the only one who’d almost died. 

“If you really thought I was dead…you’d still go on. For the others. Because they still need you. And you love them…you love them just like I do.” A fat tear slid down the tattooed girl’s cheek, and Delphine wiped it away with her thumb, feeling the impact of Cosima’s pain now as the weight of her words sunk in. She had thought Delphine was dead. For months. The blonde girl felt the depth of her beloved’s loss, grieving her, wanting to give up and let the sickness take her so they could be together in the void…but she couldn’t do that. Because she wouldn’t just be killing herself, she’d be killing her sisters too. They still needed her to find the cure, for all of them. They needed her to live…so she had.

“I am so…so sorry,” Delphine whispered, leaning in and pressing their foreheads together, her hand warm and solid on Cosima’s cheek. “When I woke up here in this strange place, my only thought was to contact you…I tried, Cosima, I swear to you that I tried. I would have done anything…”

“Shh,” Cosima whispered, kissing Delphine urgently even as tears were spilling down her cheeks. “Je t’aime…” She took one of Delphine’s hands in both her own, and pressed it over her heart; then they were both crying, kissing like it was the end of the world, or else the beginning. Both their hearts were pounding, warming up the little yurt even more than the crackling wood stove. Then Cosima paused, her breath soft and uneven in Delphine’s mouth.

“What is it?” Delphine murmured, panting a little with freshly stirred arousal. Cosima pulled back just enough to cover her face with her hands, and sneezed again, shivering slightly. “Ah, mon petit chiot,” the blonde girl sighed, smiling a little as she handed over a neatly folded cloth bandage from the beside table. Paper products of any kind were almost impossible to come by on this self-sustaining, off-the-grid social experiment. Cosima gave a sheepish little chuckle and wiped her nose.

“Sorry _…*snf!*”_ The dark-haired girl sighed softly. “You probably shouldn’t be kissing me anyway…I could actually get you sick now. You’re not genetically immune to my shitty cold.”

“Shut up,” Delphine murmured, leaning in deliberately and capturing her love’s warm lips in another kiss, reaching under the blankets and stroking the silky-soft skin between her thighs with the lightest, teasing touch. Cosima moaned softly, her hips shifting towards Delphine magnetically. Both their hearts picked up speed again.

“Do you still want me to stop, chérie?”

“Uh-uh,” Cosima shook her head, laying back against the bed and pulling Delphine down on top of her.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...

  

            “I thought you got over crying after sex a long time ago,” Cosima murmured, wiping the tear tracks from Delphine’s cheeks with her thumb. The blonde girl gave her a watery smile, taking the hand from her face, and holding it in both her own, kissing her palm with a love that bordered on reverence.

            “Oui…I did…the exception being, a time when you thought I was dead, and I thought you were dying." 

            “Aww, baby…” Cosima sighed blissfully, cuddling up for another slow, savoring kiss. “I could stay right here with you forever. But I’m so hungry…is there any food on this mad science island?”

            “Yes? You want breakfast?” Delphine beamed. “That is wonderful, chérie. You have an appetite again.” She leaned in and pressed another kiss to Cosima’s soft lips. “You really are getting better…”

            “Told ya,” Cosima smirked, giving the blonde girl one more hard kiss, and a wicked grin. “So let’s fuel up, and make a plan to get the hell out of here and onto that fucking boat with Charlotte.”


	2. The Village

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey clone club,
> 
> So I am feeling weird and confused about the lack of traffic here…seriously? I def do not need to be heaped in praise, but part of the fun of writing fanfic is just finding ppl to geek out with. Lucky for those few ppl who are paying attention, this story has made me its bitch and I have no choice but to keep going, Cosima and Delphine are pretty adamant. So please enjoy! And please let me know you’re out there, dear readers! It would be so much appreciated. :)

 ....................................................................................................................................

 

            “Before we go outside…you need to understand how it is here,” Delphine said urgently, catching both of Cosima’s hands in the bedcovers and holding them tight in her own, all the lightness of their post-coital bliss suddenly gone from her dark, serious eyes.

            “Also I think I need some clothes,” Cosima joked, raising an eyebrow playfully behind her black-rimmed glasses. 

            “Be serious, please chérie,” Delphine sighed, not even cracking a smile at Cosima’s playful expression. The smile slid from the tattooed girl’s face as she fully absorbed her girlfriend’s worried expression. _Girlfriend_ , yes, she realized she was already using that word again in her head, even though they had been broken up when Delphine had disappeared, the whole time Cosima thought she was dead. None of it mattered now. They were both alive and together, and everything else was pretense.

            “Okay.” Cosima cleared her throat a little roughly, an almost-cough, the pre-emptive thing she did a dozen times a day to try to ward off the real coughs. Sometimes it worked. “So tell me how it is here.”

            “How it is, is we are prisoners,” The French girl said quietly. She felt a tiny shudder run through Cosima’s body, and she squeezed her hands more tightly in response. “You were never meant to come here, Cosima. But now that you are here, they will not willingly let you leave. You are too valuable. That is the only reason you are still alive…if they did not need your mind, your science, they would have let you and Charlotte both die in the woods.”

            “Yeah, well…eugenicists…not known for their altruism,” the dreadlocked girl said in a flat tone. Delphine finally cracked a tiny grin, unable to stop herself from reveling in Cosima’s cheeky humor, even under dire circumstances.

            “Indeed,” the blonde doctor sighed. “That is also why I am alive…why I am here. But last night while I was treating your hypothermia, they immediately wanted to ship me out on a helicopter, for a ‘research trip’ in Sardinia.”

            _“Sardinia?”_ Cosima said blankly. “Where the fuck is that?”

            “Italy,” Delphine replied impatiently. “That’s not the point.”

            “Why do they want to send you to Italy?”

            “Because if _you_ are here, I cannot be here,” the French girl whispered urgently. “The only reason I am still here with you, is because they still think you are dying. If they knew you are recovering, they will send me away tonight.”

            _“What?”_ Cosima’s voice came out shrill and croaky, a combination of shock and the remnants of her nagging cough.

            “Shh. I won’t let that happen, mon coeur. I will die before I leave you again. But you must play along, you see? They cannot know you are getting better, and they can _never_ know that you have the cure. They will never let you leave with it.”

            “How dumb do you think I am?” Cosima frowned indignantly. “Did you think I was gonna walk out the door and say, ‘hey, genetic supremacist fuckheads! I did all the hard work, wanna come steal it now?’”

            “Of course not. I am only afraid…I cannot lose you again.” Delphine’s voice choked, and Cosima immediately softened.

            “I can’t lose you either,” she murmured, reaching up to hold the blonde girl’s face in both hands, and kissing her. They got lost in each other for a minute, savoring each other, lit up with joy and love despite the gravity of their predicament. They were together. They couldn’t not be happy.

            But then Cosima ducked her head and coughed, letting go of Delphine to cover her mouth. It still wasn’t a bad cough, like before…her throat itched, that was all. There was no blood in the palm of her hand, no wheezy gurgling in her chest. Delphine still looked worried, though, quickly jumping out of bed in her underwear and crossing the small room to a side-table where she’d left the bottle of cough syrup the night before.

            “Here, you need more medicine.” She sat on the edge of the bed and cracked open the bottle. Cosima raised an eyebrow.

            “I thought you just said I need to look really sick,” the tattooed girl pointed out wryly.

            “Oui, but I only meant that you should fake it,” Delphine shook her head impatiently. “Can you not fake a cough?”

            “To a degree,” Cosima agreed grudgingly. “But honestly, I really feel so much better, babe…I just wanna jump up and down and sing showtunes and eat like, a week’s worth of munchies, and make out with you for seven hours straight.” She grinned slyly, and Delphine couldn’t help but smile back. “It’s gonna be tough to rein that in…I haven’t felt this good in so long. Sticking with an authentic cough might not be a terrible idea.”

            “Do not be ridiculous, Cosima,” Delphine sighed imploringly. “I will not keep you sick on purpose for the sake of the ruse. You will fake it. Open your mouth.” The French girl raised one eyebrow sternly, and Cosima grinned at her, charmed by her girlfriend’s sudden flare-up of protective bossiness. It was something that had often annoyed her in the past…but right now, she liked it.

            “Yes, Dr. Cormier,” she replied silkily, with a little smirk. Without any further resistance, she opened her mouth and let Delphine tip a spoonful of the bitter syrup down her throat.

            “Thank you,” Delphine smirked back. “Cheeky monkey.”

            “You love it,” the dreadlocked girl beamed, leaning up to kiss her fiercest protector, arms wrapping around her neck.

            “Mm-hmm,” Delphine agreed, and they lost themselves in a few more minutes of kissing.

            “Okay…I really need food now,” Cosima sighed as she was released, still grinning widely. “So, acting as sick as possible, got it. Can we go eat now?" 

            “Are you taking this seriously?” Delphine asked sternly, raising an eyebrow.

            “I am super-serious, babe. I’m Sirius Black.” Cosima blinked innocently, and Delphine regarded her thoughtfully for a moment in silence.

            “I have an idea,” the French girl nodded, rushing to a supply closet and pulling out a hypodermic needle. “I will draw just a bit of your blood, ok? Then we can go.”

            “Why do you want my blood?” Cosima asked blankly. Even though she had just had the medicine, she coughed again into her elbow. Maybe she wouldn’t have to fake it 100%, anyway. She knew she wasn’t just going to be fully better in one day, no matter how good she felt right now.

            “We will pour a bit on this cloth,” she motioned to the bandage on the bedside table, the one she gave Cosima to wipe her nose when she woke up with the sniffles. “When you cough, it will look like you are still bringing up blood.” Cosima wrinkled her nose, but didn’t argue. She knew it was necessary.

            “Fine,” she sighed, holding out her arm. “But after this you better feed me, or I am gonna eat your face.” For once, Cosima was docile and patient, holding out her arm and allowing Delphine to draw a small vial of her blood, pouring out a little onto the folded cloth bandage. There was a small pile of warm, practical-looking clothes folded at the foot of the bed for Cosima, since her own clothing had been cut off her the night before when she was hypothermic and too frozen to move. They dressed together quickly, but when Delphine started buttoning up her flannel shirt, Cosima grinned and pushed her hands away, leaning in with a kiss and taking over buttoning her girlfriend’s shirt.

            “We cannot be affectionate like this once we are outside the yurt,” Delphine breathed softly into Cosima’s mouth. The dark-haired girl hummed softly and nibbled her bottom lip.

            “Yeah, I know…that’s why I’m filling up now,” Cosima hummed. Delphine sighed and wrapped her arms around Cosima’s waist, tracing the warm skin of her hips around to the small of her back, above the waistband of her jeans and up under her sweater. Their bodies leaned into each other like magnets.

            “I thought…you were hungry…” the blonde girl moaned softly, dropping her head back a little as Cosima’s questing lips found her throat.

            “Mm, I am…can’t I just lick something off your stomach?” the tattooed girl mumbled, nibbling her girlfriend’s pulse point. 

“Non…we must stop.” Delphine groaned and pressed her legs together, wrapping her arms so tight around Cosima that the smaller girl had no choice but to stop what she was doing, and just give in to the hug.

            “Fuck…I’m gonna be turned on all day no matter what, huh?” The dreadlocked girl sighed, rubbing her face into Delphine’s heavenly hair. “I can’t get enough of you right now…”

            “Cosima…we cannot fool them this way, you are too full of life,” the blonde doctor shook her head anxiously. “I am afraid to bring you outside like this, chérie. Perhaps I should bring some food to you here, where no one will see you. One moment of carelessness and all our plans will be dust, and I will be gone on the next helicopter.”

            “So what am I supposed to do? Just stay in this yurt all day like a prisoner?” Cosima whined, her bottom lip sticking out in an adorable pout.

            “Not like a prisoner. Like a patient,” Delphine shook her head. “You are supposed to be dying, remember?" 

            “I’ve _been_ dying. For almost a year now,” Cosima said quietly, her hazel eyes finally becoming serious again behind her black-rimmed glasses as she gazed up at the girl she loved. “Now that I’m not…I just want to live. Really live. Like, not be stuck in this weird round room for the rest of time, kind of living.”

            “Oui…I understand, mon amour,” Delphine sighed, dropping her forehead down against the shorter girl’s, and stroking her cheek. Cosima put her hand over Delphine’s to keep it there. “But if you want to escape this awful place and get home to your sisters…we must avoid suspicion. You know this. We must be careful just a little while longer…here, I have another idea.” Finally releasing her grip on the girl she loved, Delphine crossed the small space to where an oxygen tank sat by the supply cabinet, on wheels with a little handle, attached to a cannula. Cosima’s eyes went flat, her whole body language changing in an instant as all her muscles tensed up.

            “I don’t want to put that back on,” the tattooed girl said quietly, unable to look away from the oxygen tubes that only reminded her of the worst time in her life.

            “I know mon coeur, I know…but it will help so much to avoid suspicion. They will think you are still dying, that you are too weak to be planning anything. They will never suspect you have the cure. That is what you want, mais non?”

            “Yes…but…” Cosima shook her head, and coughed again into her elbow. Even with the cough syrup, even on the mend, it wasn’t magic. Her healing process was just beginning; she knew that. Putting the cannula back on was only going to remind her of how close the sickness still was, and pull her back into the dark place inside her, the dying place…which, of course, was exactly what needed to happen for this deception to work. She had to look despondent, beaten. She nodded, a few angry tears spilling down her face. “Okay.”

            “I will be right beside you,” Delphine murmured, kissing her tears away before handing her the oxygen tubes, which Cosima reluctantly took from her, looping the tubes over her ears and under her nose.

            “Okay,” she nodded again, putting one hand on the handle of the portable oxygen tank, leaning her weight on it as if she couldn’t stand up properly on her own. That was how she used to walk with it…that was how she needed to look when she walked out the door of the yurt.

            “You are the bravest person I have ever known, you know,” Delphine said quietly, gently lifting her girlfriend’s chin for one more kiss.

            “No…you are,” Cosima replied, the anxious thrumming of her heart slowly calming down as their lips met, bringing her back to center, back to herself. 

            “Are you ready, chérie?” the blonde girl asked gently, putting one hand on the doorknob.

            “Uh-huh. Let’s go.”

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

            As soon as they were out of the yurt, Delphine wrapped one arm around Cosima’s slim waist, as if she couldn’t walk on her own unsupported. Cosima let herself lean as much of her weight into Delphine as possible, trying to make it look real.

            “Dr. Cormier,” a weathered-looking older man nodded at them, approaching from what looked like an open-dining area in the middle of this strange village. “Glad to see your patient is doing better today.”

            “She is fighting hard,” Delphine agreed cautiously. Cosima coughed harshly into her bloody cloth, leaning even more heavily into Delphine. _Good girl_ , the blonde doctor thought. _Sell it._

            “Cosima? Are you sure you’re well enough to be out of bed?” the old man asked, a veil of fake kindness covering his obvious scientific interests in her wellbeing because of the genetic experiment, and her value as a researcher; nothing more than that.

            “I’m fine. Fuck off,” Cosima grumbled, not looking at him. The blonde girl had to suppress a little smile—that was certainly an accurate rendition of how Cosima usually acted during the times when she really wasn’t feeling well. She was cranky and taciturn and didn’t want anyone’s help.

            “I will take her back to the yurt soon,” Delphine assured the man, who looked more amused than insulted by Cosima’s sullen act. “She must stretch her legs a bit to improve her circulation now. I am only taking her to get a bit of food.”

            “All right, carry on then,” the man nodded. Cosima still avoided looking directly at him. Once he’d gone, she murmured quietly to Delphine, still without looking up—as if just putting one foot in front of the other required all her concentration.

            “Who was that?”

            “One of my supervisors. He was there last night when I brought you to the yurt.” They continued in silence across the small open courtyard, both tense and nervous as they pretended to be focused solely on walking to the picnic tables and nothing more. Cosima coughed again, even though there was no one watching them. “You are still all right, chérie?”

            “Uh-huh. My throats just itches a little. _*Snf.*”_ Delphine kissed the top of her head.

            “D’accord, ok. Come, let’s get something warm and nutritious into you.”

            “Yes, please.”

            The food at “Camp Neolution,” as Cosima was calling it in her mind, was pretty sucky. Very pragmatic and no doubt very healthy, but without any regard for flavor or seasonings. Plain seaweed, triangles of baked tofu with no sauce. Suspicious vitamins that Delphine whispered to her not to take. The tattooed girl was hungry enough to eat whatever was put in front of her, though she was careful to pace herself, not to look too eager. When she was dying, she’d had no appetite at all unless she got high first.

            “Hi…you must be Cosima.” A cheerful young woman, with sandy blonde hair pulled into pigtails, sat on the picnic bench across from them. “I’m Mud. I just wanted to say welcome. How are you feeling?”

            “Your name is Mud?” Cosima asked, raising one eyebrow. She was from Berkeley, she’d heard plenty of weird hippie names in her day; but this was a new one. The girl just grinned shyly and didn’t reply. “Well…it’s nice to meet you,” The dreadlocked girl said cautiously.

            “It’s normal, what you’re feeling. Being disoriented at first. Believe it or not, I know exactly how you’re feeling right now.” 

            “You do?” Cosima looked at the girl in surprise.

            “Yeah…I was dying when I was brought here, too. Most of us were. Waking up from that in some strange place…it’s disorienting. But you can be well here. Mr. Westmoreland, his fountain of youth. He’s cured us all.” Mud’s smile was bright and genuine. She seemed like such a sweet girl. Cosima’s natural curiosity got the better of her, and she forgot the ‘playing sick’ game as a thousand questions for this girl raced through her mind. Delphine seemed to sense it—or maybe she just noticed Cosima’s restless foot tapping under the table, something she often did unconsciously when her brilliant mind was racing.

            “Cosima will be well again like you, Mud. But she is not yet. She must save her strength, you understand chérie?” The blonde girl interjected before Cosima could launch into the dozen questions so clearly on the tip of her tongue. Cosima glared at her resentfully; but Delphine just glared back. She could be stubborn, too. Especially when it came to her girlfriend’s safety.

            “Oh—of course,” the cheerful pigtailed girl nodded, looking a little abashed. “I always overstep.” 

            “It’s okay.” Cosima smiled and reached out to squeeze her hand. “It was very nice to meet you, Mud.” 

            “Nice to meet you too,” the girl named Mud nodded, smiling again as she stood from the table and moved off to return to her chores. Once she was gone, Cosima’s sharp eyes turned back to Delphine.

            “Is this whole island populated by dying people who were abducted to be involuntary subjects for Westmoreland’s creepy human experiments?” Delphine said nothing; just looked at her meaningfully. They stared at each other in silence for a moment, absorbing the horrifying truth of their situation. “I need to see Charlotte,” Cosima finally said, breaking the silence. “She’s probably so freaked out right now. She needs to know she’s safe with us, that we have a plan.”

            “You want to tell a nine-year-old we are planning a prison bust?” Delphine frowned, looking less than thrilled with the idea. “It seems to me we are all safer if she does not know what is happening until the last possible moment. She is only a child, she could give us away.” 

            “She won’t.” Cosima coughed, even though there was no one around. She pressed one hand to her collarbone absently, the way she did so often she didn’t even notice it anymore.

            “Would you like some tea, mon coeur?” The French girl asked protectively, putting one hand on the back of her girlfriend’s thick winter parka.

            “Ughhh. No, it’s fine _…*snf!*…_ I’mb fine. I just wanna see my sister, Delphine. She can handle it. Believe me. She doesn’t need to know details…not that we _have_ any details yet. She just needs to know I’m on top of it.” Cosima’s pleading eyes were like kryptonite to the blonde doctor, and she sighed and nodded, a small smile tugging the corner of her mouth.

            “Do not make me regret this, chérie.”

            “Don’t worry.” Cosima squeezed her hand under the table, and they shared a sweet smile, both of them putting their bravest face on for each other. After they had cleared their dishes away, Delphine lead Cosima slowly across the courtyard to the school area, where the kids were congregated under a way-creepy banner that read _The Children of Revival_.

“Cosima!” Charlotte cried happily as soon as they approached, before they had even called out to her; it was like she felt her sister’s presence, her closeness. The nine-year-old lit up with a huge grin as she jumped up from her seat and made her way toward them, her bad leg swinging awkwardly in the stiff brace. She threw herself into Cosima’s arms without reservation; Delphine felt her heart melt a little when she watched the tender way her girlfriend hugged her little sister, stroking her hair reassuringly, so maternal and protective. 

Finally, Charlotte pulled away and frowned when she took in Cosima’s appearance, the breathing tubes in her nose. “Are you okay?” The child asked worriedly. “Your cough was really bad last night.”

“I’m okay, monkey,” Cosima assured her with a little grin, unconsciously adopting her sister’s pet name for her own child. “This is just for show—we don’t want anyone here to know I’m getting stronger. We’re going to get out of here, okay baby girl? Soon. Just be ready, and don’t worry about anything.” Cosima squeezed her hand, and Charlotte nodded. Then the little girl shifted her attention to Delphine for the first time.

“I know who you are,” the child said boldly, with a delighted little grin.

“Oui? Who am I, then?” The French girl raised an eyebrow in amusement. 

“You’re Delphine. You’re my sister’s girlfriend,” Charlotte said calmly. “I saw your picture.”

“Oh did you?” Delphine turned her amused grin to Cosima now.

“Obvs,” Cosima grinned back weakly, with another soft sniff.

“We thought you were dead,” Charlotte added. “I’m glad you’re alive.” 

“Thank you, mon petit chou-chou.” Delphine grinned at her and tugged the end of one of her braids, and Charlotte giggled. “I am glad, too.” Their momentary happiness was cut short when an interloper dropped down uninvited into the seat beside Cosima’s oxygen tank, another old man, but dressed much more fussily than anyone else they’d seen. Where their own clothes were warm and practical for the winter wilderness, this man looked like he’d just stepped out of high tea. In the year 1900. Cosima didn’t need to be told who this was; the way Delphine stiffened beside her told her everything she needed to know. 

“Hello, Ms. Neihaus,” he said amicably, with a deceptively pleasant smile. “It’s good to see you up and about today.”

“Hello Mr. Westmoreland,” Cosima gave him a little nod of acknowledgment. “Thank you…for sending out that search party last night. You saved my life. And my sister’s.” Charlotte reached over and held Cosima’s hand anxiously, as if worried she’d be pulled away from her.

“The honor is entirely mine, my dear,” the old man nodded formally, fussing with the ends of his ridiculous mustache. “We couldn’t well let a mind like yours be snuffed out, could we?” Cosima nodded vaguely…her eyes were sliding out of focus, Delphine could see the itchy sniffle coming across her face again as she hastily pulled the pre-bloodied handkerchief out of her pocket and sneezed twice, carefully holding it cupped in her hands so Westmoreland couldn’t see the bloody part.

“Bless you,” Charlotte chirped promptly, with a sweet little smile. Cosima sniffled awkwardly behind the breathing tubes, returning the smile weakly.

            “Miss Charlotte, why don’t you go back to the classroom with the other children now?” the old man said, in a voice that made it very clear it wasn’t really a suggestion.

“Yes sir,” Charlotte nodded politely, pulling herself upright on her leg brace, and hugging Cosima again—then, unexpectedly, reaching out to hug Delphine, too.

“Go on now, chou-chou. We will see you again soon.” Charlotte nodded and walked off, back towards the other children. Cosima sneezed again, with a little shiver under her heavy parka. Delphine thought her girlfriend was absolutely, painfully adorable when she sneezed, the way her eyes scrunched up made her look so cute and innocent…but it wasn’t exactly menacing. She was supposed to be dying, after all. Cosima must have had the same thought, because she forced herself to cough, taking away the handkerchief so Westmoreland could see the bloody part now. Delphine could tell that _that_ cough had been fake. She couldn’t have explained how she knew, but she did. Knowing that helped the anxious knot in her stomach ease at the sound of Cosima’s coughs, always so painful to hear.

“Perhaps you’ve had enough fresh air for today,” the old man said, again in a way that was clearly more than a suggestion.

“I just wanted to take a look around camp,” Cosima ventured boldly, her curiosity getting the better of her again. She needed to know the lay of the land if they were going to make an effective escape plan. 

“Camp will still be here tomorrow, young lady. You’ve all the time in the world.” His smile was equal parts magnanimous, and at the same time, somehow sinister. He was making it clear that they were not leaving anytime soon.

“Yes, sir, you are very right,” Delphine nodded hastily, before Cosima had the chance to lose her cool and say something cutting. “I will take her back to bed now.”

“Very good,” the pristinely-dressed old man nodded primly. “You must recover whatever strength you can, Ms. Neihaus. We have some very interesting work waiting for you, whenever you are ready.” Cosima wanted to say she was ready right now; she wanted to know exactly what this old psycho was up to. But she felt Delphine’s foot gently nudging hers, oh-so-subtly reminding her to pace herself, to play along. Delphine knew how reckless the tattooed girl and the rest of her sisters could sometimes be when they had their minds set on something.

“Okay,” she nodded with a sigh, and coughed again into the bloody cloth. _That_ cough wasn’t fake. Delphine didn’t question how she knew the difference; she just did. The old man patted her shoulder as he got up and walked away, leisurely surveying the rest of his domain. 

“Come, puppy. Time to rest,” Delphine smiled gently, resisting the urge to lean in and kiss her love. No public affection in the camp, she reminded herself. It would only end up being used against them.

“No…that’s just what we were telling him to make him go away,” Cosima shook her head impatiently. “I have to at least scope out the perimeter.” She ducked her face into the crook of her elbow and coughed again, shuddering a little this time.

“No, mon amour. No more sneaking today.” Delphine squeezed her hand, the most overt gesture of affection she dared show in public here. Cosima looked mutinous, and the blonde girl understood why. She’d had so much energy just an hour ago…but Delphine had known that wouldn’t last. Healing was not a straight line forward.

“We can’t stay here, Delphine,” Cosima whispered, her eyes getting hard again with angry determination. 

“Oui, chérie, I am not arguing with you. But we are not leaving today. You know you must rest if we are to have a real chance of escaping undetected.” Reminding the restless girl of their goal was the only thing that would make her relent, Delphine knew; and it worked perfectly. Cosima nodded grudgingly, and stumbled to her feet. The blonde girl reached out and grabbed her protectively. Had that stumble been real? She assessed her girlfriend’s face; she was starting to have that glassy, fever-glazed look she often got when her illness was flaring up. She never admitted it, but Delphine could always tell.

They made their way back to the yurt even more slowly than they had left it; Delphine knew that Cosima wasn’t faking her groggy stumbling now. Her body had been through an insane amount of physical stress in the last 24 hours, and though the folded protein sequence in her DNA that caused her autoimmune disease was repairing itself now, her lungs were still damaged, and would need time to heal. And her immune system was in shreds. _And_ , she was obviously coming down with a nasty cold on top of it all. Her coughs were starting to sound congested, in a way her bloody coughs never had. It wasn’t going to kill her…but it could seriously slow her down if she didn’t let herself rest properly. She _had_ to rest.

“Come lie down, puppy,” the blonde girl hummed soothingly once they were back inside the yurt, and Cosima had immediately torn off the cannula that she didn’t really need, eager to remind herself that it was just for show. 

“Will you lie down with me…just until I fall asleep,” Cosima mumbled groggily. Delphine raised an eyebrow. The fact that Cosima wasn’t arguing more against going back to bed, when she hadn’t even been up two hours, made the blonde doctor feel relieved and worried at the same time. Relieved, of course, because Cosima needed the rest. Worried because she never agreed to it unless she was feeling worse than she’d admit.

“Of course, mon amour…come here,” Delphine cooed, her voice full of warmth as she pulled the woozy girl down onto the bed, pulling off her coat, then kneeling at her feet to take her shoes off. Cosima didn’t argue that she could do it herself, which was all the confirmation Delphine needed that it was time for her girl to rest.

 _“Aah **iiish** xew!!! *Snf, snf.*”_ The sleepy tattooed girl sneezed woozily into her lap while her girlfriend knelt at her feet, and grumbled softly to herself, wiping her nose on her sleeve.

“À tes souhaits, my little doe.” Delphine stood up and wrapped her cranky girlfriend up in her arms, kissing the top of her head. Cosima went limp against her, legs dangling limply over the side of the bed.

“I thought _…*snf!*…_ I was getting better,” the dark-haired girl whispered miserably.

“You _are_ getting better, puppy. You are healing now, it will come in time. That is why you must rest…you know this.” Delphine kissed Cosima’s forehead, which was definitely feeling a little warm now. “Now lie down…” The blonde girl crawled into the narrow bed beside her sleepy love, pulling her down into the warm nest of blankets; and Cosima put up no resistance whatsoever. It took a few minutes for her to cough herself to sleep, cuddled up snugly against Delphine with her head on the blonde girl’s chest…but soon she was out cold and snoring very softly through her stuffy nose. Delphine had never heard Cosima snore before; it was very cute. She sounded like a purring kitten.

“I will get you home to your sisters, mon coeur. I promise,” the French girl whispered, pressing another kiss to the top of her sleeping girlfriend’s head.


	3. Puppies and Monkeys and Little French Pastries

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi clone club, thanks so much for the notes you left! I really appreciate knowing ppl are enjoying it. Here’s chapter 3. Keep following the crazy science :)

  

            When Cosima woke up from her five-hour “nap,” she was coughing again, the rattling congestion in her chest worse than ever. She rolled onto her side to breathe more easily, immediately feeling one warm hand on her back and another on her forehead, which she knew belonged to her girlfriend even without the sweet, lilting voice murmuring loving assurances in her ear.

            “Fuck…this kind of blows,” the dark-haired girl mumbled crankily, pushing herself up against the pillows a bit once the coughing had passed. The movement made her realize she was tethered to an IV again. “Why do I have this?”

            “Shh, it’s just fluids…nothing to worry you,” Delphine hummed, sitting on the side of the bed and stroking Cosima’s pale cheek. “You have a fever, chérie. I didn’t want to let you get dehydrated.” The blonde girl smiled reassuringly and leaned in to kiss her girlfriend’s forehead.

            “Is that really necessary?” Cosima grumbled, reaching for her glasses and blinking a bit as the world came into focus. “I get fevers all the time, it’s no big. I don’t even feel that bad.”

            “Oui, because you have had the fluids.” Delphine raised an eyebrow. Cosima groaned.

            “How am I supposed to argue with that?”

            “You aren’t.” Delphine smirked a little, leaning in to kiss her. “You must be a good puppy now and let me take care of you. You are only just beginning to heal, I will not let anything get in the way of that. Your immune system is depressed and you have fresh scar tissue in your lungs…if you get pneumonia now, it will never heal right, and you will have breathing troubles for the rest of your life.”

            “I don’t have pneumonia, Dr. Worrywart,” Cosima rolled her eyes, grinning a little despite herself at her girlfriend’s trademark overprotectiveness. It was something that used to drive her nuts…because it only served to remind her that she was dying. But she wasn’t dying now. And despite being a little stifling, the loving attention felt like a breath of new life, surrounding her with warmth and safety.

            “Will you stop being so reductive? It is beneath you.” It was Delphine’s turn to roll her eyes now. “We both know you are in a very delicate place right now for your healing, chérie. You have severe inflammation in your respiratory tissue, the cough medicine has had almost no effect. You have no immune response, your lungs need to heal, and this little cold is not so little anymore. You could easily get pneumonia. But I plan to avoid that with a course of Prednisone and prophylactic antibiotics. A B-12 drip will also help you synthesize the new DNA sequence more quickly, and speed the healing.” Cosima groaned and made a childishly cranky face, but she didn’t argue the point. She knew Delphine was right, as frustrating as it was. She did need those things. She had to take it slow for now.

            “And then we can bust out of camp crazypants and go on with our lives, without me being poked and prodded every day like a pincushion?”

            “Yes, love. We will leave behind the crazypants.” Delphine smiled, and Cosima laughed a little; but her giggles quickly devolved into another round of coughs.

            “Ughh. I hate this…I wanna be done with this part already,” the tattooed girl whined, wiping her nose on the cuff of her sweater with a grumpy sniffle. Delphine handed her a fresh cloth bandage. Cosima took it grudgingly. “I’m not putting blood on this thing if I’m gonna keep having to blow my nose every five minutes. There _is_ a limit to how gross I’m willing to get for this whole game.”

            “I do not think we need to resort to that now. Your real cough has become quite convincing enough, even without the blood.” Delphine smiled encouragingly at Cosima’s sullen expression. “The others will continue to think you are dying…but _we_ know that this is now a healing cough. It will be better soon. You are still moving forward, do not forget that.” She stroked Cosima’s cheek again, and kissed her.

            “Okay…I know,” the impatient girl sighed, with a grudging half-smile. “Thank you for taking such good care of me, baby…even when I get mad at you for it. I just wanna be home already. I want to see my sisters and hug my niece and sleep in my own bed, and eat real food…God, I would kill for some of those farmer’s market tamales right now…”

            “Yes? Are you hungry again?” Delphine’s delighted expression made it hard for Cosima to stay completely grumpy, as much as she tried.

            “I’m _starving,”_ Cosima moaned, purposely over-acting a dramatic response, slumping against the pillows with the back of her hand pressed to her forehead, as if she were about to faint from hunger. She looked up and grinned expectantly. Delphine laughed out loud, filling Cosima’s stomach with happy butterflies.

            “Then I suppose I must feed you, my cheeky little monkey.”

            “Yes, you…you must,” Cosima agreed, with only a short break of coughing.

            “You will wait for me here this time. It is too cold outside for you with this fever, you will only cough more. You need warm air and cozy blankets now, mon petit chiot.”

            “You know you can’t always get me to do what you want just because you call me puppy,” Cosima shook her head; but she had a goofy grin on her face that said otherwise.

            “Of course not,” Delphine agreed seriously, with a delighted smile of her own as she leaned in and pressed another soft kiss to Cosima’s warm lips. “Now be good, or I will not let you have your favorite chew toy.” They giggled and kissed for a few minutes, forgetting their dire circumstances as they got lost in a world of only each other. They only stopped when Cosima pulled away coughing again, ducking her head against Delphine’s shoulder. The blonde girl held her love protectively, one hand rubbing the back of her neck.

            “Pauvre petit chiot…” Delphine kissed the top of Cosima’s head, cuddling her close and pulling the blankets up more snugly around her. _Poor little puppy_. The only answer she got from her puppy was a soft gasp of air, and a sniffly little sneeze that made her shiver under the blankets. Delphine just cuddled her closer.

            “I’mb okay,” Cosima mumbled woozily against Delphine’s shoulder, making no move to separate from the safely-snuggled position she was in.

            “You will be, mon coeur. It won’t be long, you’ll see.” 

            “Mm,” Cosima agreed halfheartedly. But she lifted up her head and gave her girlfriend a weak smile. Delphine smiled back, and kissed her.

            “Hello? Is anybody home in there?” The small voice accompanying the knock on the yurt door announced the arrival of the youngest Leda sister on their doorstep. Delphine didn’t miss the way Cosima’s tired hazel eyes immediately brightened.

            “I think your little shadow has come to visit,” the French girl grinned, carefully pulling the blankets up around Cosima again as she crawled out of the bed to answer the door. “Hello, petit chou-chou,” she smiled brightly at the little girl on their doorstep.

            “Hi Delphine,” Charlotte beamed. “School is over, and Aisha’s mom said it was okay to come and visit you guys. As long as I’m not bothering you. I’m not bothering you, am I?”

            “You could never bother us, sweet one,” Delphine shook her head, opening the door a little wider to let her in. “Come, visit with your sister. I am going to get her some snacks, shall I bring you some as well?”

            “Yes please,” Charlotte nodded eagerly. Delphine knew that Charlotte was in the earliest stages of the Leda disease, but it was still reassuring to see that she had a healthy appetite. “But, no seaweed, okay?”

            “D’accord,” Delphine smirked and tugged on her braid, making the little girl giggle. She was so much like Cosima. “Afterwards I will give you some medicine to make you sleep, and you will have your shot like your sister, so you can become healthy again.” Cosima coughed, and Charlotte raised an eyebrow. 

            “She doesn’t seem so healthy,” the child pointed out.

            “I’m getting there,” Cosima croaked out sheepishly.

            “You are not so far along with your illness, chouchou. This is a good thing for you, it will be easy for your body to heal.” Delphine helped the little girl hop up onto the edge of the bed to sit beside Cosima, propping her leg brace on a low stool.

            “It’s harder for you to heal, isn’t it?” Charlotte asked her sister, a worried frown crinkling the spot just between her eyes. It was the same expression Cosima got whenever she was concentrating intently on a particularly challenging equation.

            “A little bit,” Cosima nodded. She never lied to kids, but she didn’t want Charlotte to worry, either. “But lucky for me, I’ve got the best doctor in the whole world taking care of me now. I’ll be A-OK in no time, monkey-face.” She made a goofy expression, and the little girl laughed.

            “She really loves you a lot,” Charlotte said wisely, after Delphine had left them both with a kiss on the cheek before going out into the cold to bring them snacks. 

            “She sure does,” Cosima agreed, with a smile that lit up her whole face. “And I love her back.”

            “That’s why she likes taking care of you,” Charlotte nodded, her expression serious and inquisitive. “Making you feel better makes her feel better. It’s not because of the data, it’s because of _you_.” A small, heavy weight dropped into Cosima’s stomach as she looked at her little sister’s innocent face, realizing all over again that no one had ever really loved this child properly.

            “We love you too, you know,” the dreadlocked girl said gently, tugging on the end of one of Charlotte’s braids the way Delphine had. She seemed to really like that.

            “Why?” The simple, innocent question broke Cosima’s heart. How could she possibly explain love and family to a child who had never experienced either one?

            “Loving people isn’t about why,” Cosima shook her head, holding one of Charlotte’s smaller hands in her own. “You just do. Love makes a family. And families take care of each other no matter what.”

            “Even if I’m bad?” Charlotte asked, raising an eyebrow curiously. She still looked like all of this was just an intellectual query, an anthropological study and nothing more. Cosima supposed that was to be expected, considering the clinical way she had been raised. If they hadn’t crossed paths, she could easily have ended up just like Rachel. The thought made Cosima shiver. Charlotte noticed, and seemed to think she was having fever chills, because she pulled the blankets protectively over Cosima’s shoulders just as Delphine had. The small gesture almost brought tears to Cosima’s eyes—how could a child who had never been loved, be so loving?

            “Even if you’re bad,” she agreed, trying to keep her voice steady and not start crying. “If you’re angry, or sad, or sick, it doesn’t matter. We’re always going to love you. And when we get home, you’ll meet the rest of our family, and they’ll all love you too. All your sisters and your cousins…well, technically I guess you’re their aunt, but you’re all the same age, so we’ll stick with cousins.”   

            “You mean Kira?” Charlotte asked curiously. “Professor Duncan told me about her. She’s a genetic anomaly.”

            “She is,” Cosima agreed, hating to hear such detached, clinical language from a child. “She’s also just a kid. Like you. And you have other cousins too, Oscar and Gemma. And soon there will be two more.”

            “Helena’s babies?”

            “Mm-hmm.”

            “I could help take care of them.”

            “Absolutely,” Cosima grinned hugely. Then she curled up on her side and coughed again, deep and rattling and painful. Her chest ached almost as badly as it had out in the woods. _Healing cough. This is a healing cough_ , she reminded herself, the fear far outweighing the pain.

            “Are you sure you’re going to get better?” Charlotte asked, looking worried again.

            “Yes, monkey-face. I’m sure,” Cosima nodded, her own worries quickly falling aside as she focused on reassuring her little sister. “I know it sounds pretty bad. But the thing that was making me sick is gone now, this is just all the leftover irritation. And that can be treated. Auntie Delphine’s about to give me all kinds of medicine, and in a few days I’ll be way better. You’ll see.”

            “She said she’s going to give me a shot,” Charlotte said nervously.

            “Yeah…she has to, babes. So you won’t get sick like me. But we’ll give you medicine to put you to sleep first, you won’t feel a thing. Okay? Promise.” 

            “Promise means you have to do what you say, right?”

            “Right,” Cosima nodded, realizing that no one had ever made this kid a promise before.

            “Okay,” Charlotte agreed simply. Even after everything she’d been through, the twisted life she’d been given by cruel, misguided science…she was still so ready to trust. “Will you tell me about my cousins? What do they like?”

            “Well…Kira really likes to draw and make up stories.”

            “Me too!”

            “Maybe you guys could write some stories together, huh?” Cosima yawned. Even though she’d just woken up, her body still felt so heavy. She knew Delphine was right, as much as she hated to admit it, as much as she wanted to be gone already; she knew she was in no shape to be hiking through the woods or getting on a boat, not like this. Not in the frigid northern winter, not with Charlotte to think of. She had to be strong enough to take care of Charlotte, too.

            “Yeah, we could…if she wants me to help,” Charlotte agreed cautiously.

            “Of course she will,” Cosima grinned and pulled on the little girl’s braid again to make her smile. “Oscar and Gemma do karate, and all three of them love to play dress-up with Uncle Felix.” 

            “Who’s Uncle Felix?” Charlotte asked. Of course, there was no reason for Professor Duncan to have told Charlotte about anyone she wasn’t related to by blood. To Neolution, family was nothing more than biological science.

            “He’s Sarah’s brother.”

            “You mean, he’s one of the Castor boys?” 

            “Uh, no. Not a Castor. But Sarah and Felix were raised together by the same mom. They’re something called foster-siblings. Do you know what that means, Char?”

            “It means they’re a family because they love each other?”

            “Yeah.” Cosima smiled, and Charlotte smiled back hugely. Delphine returned then with a heavily-laden food tray, her cheeks pink from the cold air outside. She’d put a cloth across the top of the tray to protect it from the falling snow that was caught up in her hair and the knit weave of her winter hat.

            “Hi, Auntie Delphine,” Charlotte beamed. The blonde woman looked somewhat taken aback, but she didn’t miss a beat in accepting the title, just as Cosima had known she would.

            “Bonsoir, mes chouchous,” the French girl smiled at her two precious ones, who were looking up at her with matching sets of bright hazel eyes. “You have had a nice visit?”

            “Cosima told me all about my cousins. I’m going to write stories with Kira. I don’t know if I can do karate with Gemma and Oscar, though. But maybe they could teach me.”

            “Oui, they will,” Delphine nodded, delighted with the amount of normalcy Cosima had already managed to introduce into the little girl’s life, even while they were still stuck here on mad science island.

            “And she said I won’t feel it when you give me my shot, because I’ll be asleep first.”

            “Yes, sweet one, that is right. I promise you will not feel a thing.”

            “Good,” Charlotte smiled, confident now that she knew about promises. Cosima ducked her face under the blankets to stifle a congested sneeze, trying to shield Charlotte from her germs.

            “Here, puppy, I have some tea for your sniffles,” Delphine smiled gently, passing her a steaming mug of hot tea from the tray, and another to Charlotte. 

            “Cosima’s not a puppy,” Charlotte giggled.

            “Isn’t she?” Delphine teased. The little girl laughed even harder.

            “That’s just something she likes to call me,” the tattooed girl grinned sleepily, sniffling a little as she sat up in bed to accept her tea. “Ooh, that’s amazing…thank you, babe.”

            “Mm-hmm. Drink it all up while it’s hot, chérie.” Delphine beamed, and pulled up a chair beside the bed so they could all sit together and share their snacks.

            “She calls you puppy because she loves you?” Charlotte asked, clearly unused to hearing affectionate nicknames of any kind.

            “Uh-huh,” Cosima nodded, helping herself to more of the tasteless, but filling Neolution food. She may be sick and feverish, but she knew she was on the mend because she was positively starving. 

            “Is that why you call me monkey-face?”

            “Uh-huh,” the dreadlocked girl smiled, taking another sip of the warm, wonderful tea. “Does it annoy you?”

            “No. I like it,” Charlotte grinned, reaching for her own cup of tea. “After we get home, I’ll write a story about our big adventure for Kira and Gemma and Oscar. So they’ll know everything that happened before I met them.”

            “That is a wonderful idea, mon petit chou,” Delphine smiled, resting her hand affectionately on top of Charlotte’s head for a moment.

            “What does that mean? You keep saying it.”

            “It means you are my little sweet pastry,” the French girl grinned, kissing Charlotte on the cheek and pretending to gobble her up. Charlotte squealed in delight.

            “Auntie Delphine! I almost spilled my tea!”

            “Oh my goodness, I am sorry chouchou. Alors, eat your food now. Both of you.” 

            “Yes dear,” Cosima said sarcastically, but with a huge grin spread across her pale face as she took another sip of tea.

 


	4. Rejuvenation

  

            Cosima slept through most of the next three days; but Delphine wasn’t worried, because it was so obvious that she was getting better. The fever was going steadily down, the wheezy snoring was ebbing away; and every time she woke up, she was hungry. And after the French doctor gave the littlest Leda _her_ gene therapy injection, she went into a similar state of hibernation, even though she hadn’t been sick like Cosima. Synthesizing new DNA was, apparently, a lot of work for the human body. They were essentially rebooting on a molecular level.

            It was mid-morning on the day after Delphine had given Charlotte her shot, when the nine-year-old came shuffling back into their yurt with the unfocused, puffy-eyed look of a half-asleep kid who had just been woken up in the middle of the night. “Can I lie down with Cosima?” She asked in a trance-like voice, too sleepy to be embarrassed.

            “Of course, chouchou. Come rest, you will feel better when you wake up,” Delphine hummed soothingly, putting one hand on Charlotte’s back to guide her since she didn’t look like she was paying much attention to where she was going.

            “Okay,” Charlotte mumbled agreeably, shedding her coat along the way and just letting it drop on the floor. Once she was seated on the edge of the bed, she passively allowed Delphine to take off her shoes and leg brace, and help her lie down next to her sister. Charlotte cuddled right up to Cosima’s side, and Cosima shifted in her sleep, stretching one arm protectively over her little sister. The nine-year-old sighed gratefully, her eyes already closed as she put her arm over Cosima’s to hold it there.

            “Shall I take out your braids, ma poulette?” the blonde woman asked gently, thinking that falling asleep with braided hair did not sounds very comfortable.

            “Okay,” Charlotte said again with a yawn. Delphine was pretty sure the little one was asleep before she’d even finished taking out the braids, gently un-weaving her long hair until was fanned out around her in waves. It wasn’t _quite_ the identical shade to Cosima’s; her girlfriend had a tiny bit of dark cherry-red mixed into the mahogany, it was only noticeable when there was a strong light source behind her. Like a sunset. None of the other Leda sisters had that precise shade; Delphine had noticed that. Just like none of the others wore glasses. Perhaps because none of them had spent quite so many hours squinting at endless books all through the night as Cosima had, from the time she was child. Even surrounded by genetic identicals, her puppy was eternally, intrinsically unique. Delphine smiled, looking down at her two girls fast asleep together; she reached out to stroke Cosima’s cheek, savoring the light touch of soft skin against the back of her fingers.

            “Love you too,” Cosima mumbled in her sleep, sensing Delphine’s touch. The French girl grinned goofily, leaning down to press the lightest possible kiss to her girlfriend’s warm lips.

            “Sleep now, mes anges,” Delphine murmured, pulling the covers snugly around both of her girls. “Soon you will feel strong again…and we will leave this terrible place forever.”

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

            When Cosima next opened her eyes, she had lost the “fuzzy feeling,” immediately reaching over Charlotte’s smaller body cuddled up against her to get her glasses from the bedside table. She yawned contentedly, stretching her back like a cat. 

            “Bonjour, my sleeping beauty. Have you had a good rest?” Delphine was sitting at her little desk transcribing medical charts, grinning affectionately at the sight of Cosima waking up. She wasn’t supposed to be taking her work out of the first aid trailer, of course; but since everyone thought Cosima was on her deathbed, they gave the French girl more leeway than she had normally come to expect in her months here. It was quite a relief. “You looked so peaceful…good dreams?”

            “Mm. Totally,” Cosima grinned back, her sleepy smile lighting up the whole room.

            “Tell me,” Delphine’s goofy grin intensified as she abandoned her work, and crossed the small space to the bed, sitting on the side so Charlotte’s sleeping body was nestled safely between them. She reached out and laced her fingers together with Cosima’s on top of the covers, playing with each other’s hands absentmindedly.

            “Hmm…there was one where we were on a roadtrip together…”

            “Roadtrip?” Delphine repeated the word uncertainly. “You mean, as a drive?”

            “Yeah, but not like, going out for the afternoon kind of drive,” Cosima shook her head, the sparkle in her warm eyes growing brighter as she looked up at her girlfriend and smiled. “A _long_ trip in the car…like, days…somewhere beautiful, where the journey is the destination…you know? We were just driving on this awesome highway, a million miles from anywhere, and the sun was shining, and you had your hand on my knee, and…it was perfect.”

            “This sounds like heaven,” Delphine agreed, leaning down to steal a kiss. 

            “Mmm…” Cosima sighed, kissing her back. Of course, they weren’t about to start making out with Charlotte asleep between them, and they pulled apart pretty quickly, before they could lose their heads. But they still kept their hands entwined, constantly playing with each other’s fingers. How could something so chaste be such a turn-on? “We should do that for real, you know.”

            “Yes? You want to have a roadtrip?” 

            “I want to _take_ a roadtrip,” Cosima corrected gently, smiling her adorable, snaggly-toothed smile that made Delphine’s stomach jump up and down in her throat. “With you. When all this fucking insanity is over and done…you and I are getting in a car, and driving down the California coast. Oh, God, you’re gonna love it babe. You have no idea.”

            “But Cosima, chérie, you know I do not have a driver’s license.”

            “That’s okay. I like driving better that being a passenger anyway,” Cosima shook her head, her fingers trailing over the palm of Delphine’s hand.

            “You do? But you did not even have a car in Toronto.”

            “Yeah, well I had to sell my car when I left Cali for clone club. But anyway, I don’t mean sitting in city traffic, commuting to work, everyday kind of driving,” the tattooed girl shook her head, her smile warming Delphine from the inside out. “I mean _roadtrip_ driving. No interstates, no traffic. Scenic state highways only. Oh, Delphine, wait until you see the sun setting into the ocean on Highway 1…it’s the most beautiful thing in the world. With the windows down, and the sun on your face, and some sweet tunes playing…and your favorite person in the whole world sitting next to you…” Cosima’s rhapsodizing was infectious, and soon Delphine was envisioning it too. She didn’t miss the part where she was Cosima’s favorite person in the whole world, either.

            “If I am in the passenger seat, do I then choose what music we will listen to?”

            “Oh, are you _sure_ you’ve never ‘had a roadtrip’ before, huh babe? ‘Cause you’re catching on pretty fast.” Cosima giggled, her happiness so infectious that Delphine couldn’t not laugh too. Charlotte made an incoherent mumbling sound between them, and twitched a little unconsciously, pressing her forehead into Cosima’s arm before slipping back into a deeper sleep. They both stopped talking for a moment and watched the little one sleep, making sure she was really out and their conversation hadn’t disturbed her. Delphine’s free hand rested on Charlotte’s head for a moment, sifting through her hair. Cosima reached up and stroked the blonde girl’s cheek, and they shared another soft kiss.

            “I will be your willing passenger anywhere you want to travel, mon amour,” Delphine sighed happily, her fingers playing with Cosima’s again. “If we go to California, we must then visit your parents, no?”

            “Oh, yeah. Obvs. They’re gonna love you so much, puppy,” Cosima beamed, and the French girl actually felt herself blush. She had never been in this position before, a “meet the parents” sort of position. She really did want Cosima’s parents to like her.

            “You really think so, chérie?”

            “Fuck yes,” Cosima grinned, still playing absently with Delphine’s fingers on top of the blankets. “You love science as much as I do…and you love _me_ as much as they do. You’re the whole package, baby.”       They couldn’t seem to stop smiling at each other…if Charlotte hadn’t been there, they’d be peeling off their clothes by now, but instead they contented themselves with another slow, savoring kiss.

            “I cannot wait to meet them,” Delphine hummed into Cosima’s mouth before she pulled away. 

“Yeah,” Cosima sighed dazedly. “But if we’re gonna end up visiting my parents…maybe we should start our trip at the _bottom_ instead, and work our way north to San Francisco. I want you all to myself for as long as possible,” Cosima sighed, reaching up to graze her fingers across Delphine’s face again, and through her impossibly soft blonde hair. 

            “Oui…you do have me all to yourself, you know.” The playful glint slowly drained from Cosima’s hazel eyes at Delphine’s quiet statement, replaced by a look of love that wiped every fear and worry from the French girl’s mind. 

            “I know,” Cosima whispered, slowly pulling herself out of her little sister’s grip so she could sit up, and taking Delphine’s face in both hands. “I know…” They lost themselves in a few minutes of kissing; gentle, unhurried kisses full of devotion. “Is there really…nowhere we can go to be alone right now…” the tattooed girl mumbled against her girlfriend’s lips, hands drifting up under her t-shirt. But before Delphine had a chance to answer, Cosima ducked her head and coughed, her first cough since waking up. It was much softer than before, and it had lost the rattling, congested sound.

            “Your cough is much better, puppy,” the blonde girl grinned, kissing her girlfriend’s forehead. “And your head does not feel so hot now. Here, can I take your temperature? We have forgotten ourselves for a moment.”

            “I intend to forget myself for many more moments in the immediate future…but yeah, go ahead and play doctor now.” Cosima smirked, leaning back on her hands and stretching out under the blankets with a happy little sigh.

            “My cheeky little monkey,” Delphine murmured, kissing Cosima’s temple before regretfully moving away to get her medical kit. She moved her stethoscope across Cosima’s back under her sweater, listening to her breathe; then lightly passing the thermometer across her forehead. “Your body was very busy healing with the new DNA while you were asleep. Your lungs sound clear, and the fever is nearly gone. You are getting well so quickly now,” the blonde girl beamed, pressing a kiss to her love’s forehead after taking the thermometer away.

            “I know,” Cosima grinned; and inexplicably, she burst out laughing. Delphine started laughing too, both of them caught up in a massive rush of pent-up relief that rolled through their bodies, as they allowed themselves to fully absorb their new reality. Cosima was getting better. For real. Their whole future was spread out before them.

            “What’s going on?” Charlotte mumbled without opening her eyes, still curled up around Cosima’s pillow. “Do I hafta get up now…”

            “Shh, go back to sleep monkey,” the dreadlocked girl murmured gently, running her fingers briefly through Charlotte’s loose hair on the pillow. “You don’t have to get up until you’re ready.”

            “’Kay…then we’re going home…”

            “Then we’re going home,” Cosima agreed gently, looking at Delphine with a smile that could light up the dark winter night. She slipped out from under the covers, taking Delphine’s hand and leading her over to the desk, her dark eyes all business now. “We _are_ going home, right? Now that I’m done impersonating an asthmatic zombie, we need to make a plan.”

            “Yes mon coeur, it is time now for the plan,” Delphine agreed, pulling a weathered map of the island out from underneath all her medical files. Cosima recognized it from Charlotte’s drawings back at Professor Duncan’s house, though _this_ map was a bit more intricate than a child’s watercolor.

            “So we’re here, right?” Cosima pointed to the northwest corner of the island, where there was a tiny picture of a village. 

            “Yes. We must walk just under three miles to reach the boathouse, here,” Delphine pointed to the little picture of a boat and a dock, down the shoreline from the village.

            “Three miles? That’s nothing,” Cosima shook her head, gazing down over Delphine’s shoulder.

            “You did not seem to think so on the night you arrived,” Delphine pointed out, some of the worry coming back into her dark eyes as she remembered how close to death her beloved girl had been when she arrived here in the frozen darkness. She put one hand protectively on Cosima’s leg.

            “Yeah, well…I was sick then,” Cosima nodded, squeezing the blonde girl’s hand when she felt it tremble. “I’m better now. I can walk a few miles without keeling over in a pool of my own blood.” She tried to make her words sound jokey and lighthearted…but it was a little too soon to joke about it. Delphine just looked at her anxiously. 

“We’re gonna be okay,” Cosima said quietly, holding Delphine’s face gently between her hands. Delphine leaned in and kissed her. Cosima sighed, wrapping her arms around the blonde girl’s neck as she found herself suddenly lifted up, locking her legs firmly around Delphine’s waist as she was set down on the edge of the desk. Suddenly the whole world was falling away, and it was just the two of them, lips and teeth and hands everywhere.

“We can’t…Charlotte…” the French girl panted, desperate to hold onto some shred of self-control as she dropped her head against Cosima’s neck. The dark-haired girl whined impatiently, holding Delphine’s body tight against her and running one hand lovingly through her silky hair. Her stomach growled loudly, and they both laughed.

“Are you hungry, puppy?” The blonde girl giggled, pressing one more quick, soft kiss to Cosima’s lips.

“Starving,” The tattooed girl sighed, with a devilish little grin as she leaned in and whispered in Delphine’s ear, “I could just eat you all up, babe…I wanna put my tongue on every little bit of you…” Delphine groaned and closed her eyes.

“First we must feed your tummy…” The French girl pulled back just enough to lean their foreheads together. “Then when we are home and free of this mad place… _then_ I will feed you here.” She reached one hand between Cosima’s legs and pressed lightly, teasing her with the gentle touch. Cosima made a soft, gasping sound, like she’d just been splashed with cold water.

“I love you…” They wrapped their arms tight around each other, just holding each other for a few quiet moments while their pounding hearts slowly returned to a normal rhythm. Cosima coughed a little, and Delphine cuddled her and rubbed her back.

“Now be good and sit with Charlotte, I will go bring back some food for you, my hungry puppy.” 

“I’ll start packing a few essentials to take to the boat.” Delphine looked at Cosima’s stubbornly determined expression, and nodded. There was no more reason to delay. When Charlotte woke up, they would be ready.

 


	5. The Woods

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haeeeee Clone Club. So, no spoilers here, BUT-- I know I can't be the only one who was a little underwhelmed with the finale, huh? It had its moments but overall rather disappointing. And officially now, NOWHERE NEAR ENOUGH COPHINE throughout the final season. Why did they bother bringing Delphine back after making us think she was dead for a whole year, just to make so little use of her in the final season? As always, thank God for fanfic, where it can be all-Cophine-all-the-time! Plz enjoy :)

 

 

            Charlotte slept through Cosima and Delphine’s evening of planning and packing—just the bare essentials in two backpacks, and the medical cooler containing their cure. Charlotte and Cosima would need at least three more shots each over the next two weeks, plus of course all the rest of their sisters around the world. 

The little one slept through them eating dinner and going over their route again and again, until Cosima finally fell asleep too, a little after 10pm. Delphine stayed awake. The blonde girl knew best of all how closely they were being watched, and she was determined that the only safe time for them to make their break for freedom was the middle of the night. They were only going to get one shot at this. When Charlotte woke up, whenever that was, Delphine was determined they would be ready.

            It was just past 3am when _Little Leda_ , as Delphine had come to think of her, yawned and opened her eyes. She took in her big sister first, one arm wrapped protectively over her, fast asleep. She reached out and gently pressed her hand against Cosima’s cheek, as if checking that she was real, and alive. Then she looked over at Delphine and smiled.

            “Bonsoir, chouchou,” the French woman grinned. 

            “Hi Auntie Delphine,” Charlotte grinned quietly back, and carefully slipped out from under Cosima’s arm to sit up. 

            “You feel better now, little monkey? Here, let me look at you.” Even though she’d never shown more than the earliest, fleeting symptoms, Delphine gave the nine-year-old a thorough physical exam. She checked all Charlotte’s vitals meticulously and listened to her breathing from every possible angle, before deciding that she was, in fact, doing very well, now that the grogginess of her first shot had passed.

            “This is very good,” Delphine nodded when she put her stethoscope aside, kissing the top of the child’s dark head. “You must be hungry now, yes?”

            “Uh-huh,” Charlotte nodded enthusiastically, perking up at the mention of food. 

            “Come, I have your supper waiting for you,” the blonde woman smiled, kneeling down in front of her to put her leg brace back on. Delphine gently helped Charlotte slip off the bed, leaving Cosima still dead to the world in the warm nest of blankets, and leading the little girl over to the small desk, where all the maps and supplies had been packed away, and an extra plate of the bland-yet-nutritious Neolution food lay waiting. While Charlotte sat down to eat, Delphine crossed back to the bed, sitting down on the edge and reaching out to stroke Cosima’s peacefully sleeping face.

            “Mmmph…five more minutes,” the tattooed girl mumbled without opening her eyes. She took Delphine’s hand, kissing the palm as she rolled onto her side with a sleepy sigh.

            “Yes, puppy…you may have five more minutes,” Delphine hummed, smiling as she leaned down and kissed the half-asleep girl lightly on the lips, one hand rubbing her head absently. “Then we will be ready to leave here for good.” 

            “Mmhmm,” Cosima agreed with a yawn, still not opening her eyes. Delphine quirked an eyebrow in mild surprise, sure that the mention of leaving—as in, now—would perk her girl up like a double-shot of espresso. But, she also remembered that for all of Cosima’s tenaciousness throughout her illness, she had never been quick to wake up, even before. She _always_ wanted five more minutes, she always wanted to roll over and cuddle back into Delphine for as long as she’d be permitted. And it _was_ three in the morning, after all.

            “We’re leaving now?” Charlotte asked curiously, looking up from her plate. She sounded mostly curious, if just a tad anxious.

            “Yes, chouchou. It is the only safe time, when everyone is asleep. We must be brave only a little longer, and then we will all be home safe.” 

            “But what about Cosima?” Charlotte asked, her eyebrows knitting together worriedly as she remembered the _last_ time she and her sister had ventured out into the snowy woods, Cosima’s raspy breathing, her blood-splattering coughs.

            “Cosima’s good,” the dreadlocked girl mumbled, yawning as she opened her eyes, finally, and smiled sleepily up at Delphine.

            “Bonsoir, ma chérie,” the French girl cooed, smiling as she leaned down and kissed her love again, a little more thoroughly now that she was reasonably awake.

            “Are we really leaving, puppy?” Cosima murmured, with only a soft cough as she sat up and reached for her glasses.

            “Oui. When you are ready,” Delphine beamed quietly, catching both of Cosima’s hands and squeezing them.

            _“So_ ready. Oh my God.” 

            “But I didn’t say goodbye to Aisha,” Charlotte frowned.

            “One sucky thing about stealthy escapes…no goodbyes, monkey.” Cosima sighed regretfully.

            “Can I write her a note, at least? I’ll go leave it by her bed, it’s just next door. That way she won’t think I didn’t care she was my friend.” Cosima and Delphine looked at each other with the same heart-melting expression. How could they say no to that?

            “Okay, Char. A quick note. Just to say goodbye—you know you can’t tell her where we’re going.” Cosima bit her lip.

            “I know,” the little girl nodded, pulling out pencil and paper from the desk.

            “Okay, so…this is it,” Cosima looked seriously at Delphine.

            “Yes. This is it. Go get your boots on.” Delphine squeezed Cosima’s hands. The blonde doctor still had some reservations about taking Cosima back out into the frozen woods so soon…only a few days into her first round of gene therapy, her lungs still healing, her immune system just beginning to reboot. She’d just recovered from hypothermia a few days ago, for God’s sake. Cosima seemed to see the worry in Delphine’s dark eyes, because she smiled and took the French girl’s face gently in both hands, her bright gaze sparkling with stubborn determination.

            “We’re gonna be okay, puppy. You know that,” the dreadlocked girl said quietly but clearly, sealing her pronouncement with a kiss. 

            “Oui…I do know this,” Delphine nodded, a determined expression settling across her own face to match Cosima’s, who beamed at her and kissed her again.

            “Okay then.” One final kiss, and Cosima released her, both of them crossing the small space of the yurt to begin putting on all their outdoor layers and their boots. Cosima coughed on her shoelaces, and Delphine pretended not to notice. As if.

            “Ready,” Charlotte announced when she had finished her letter to her only friend in this mad place, folding it neatly and laying it in the center of the desk. Cosima helped her little sister put on all her warm outdoor layers while Delphine slipped quietly out the door to the yurt, leaving Charlotte’s letter for Aisha and doing a quick visual inspection of their perimeter to make sure it was safe; no guards were close by. The advantage of nighttime: the guards would be easier to spot by the beams of their flashlights.

            “You must not speak until I tell you it is safe,” Delphine murmured to the little one as they stood at the door to the yurt, backpacks on, quiet and serious. Charlotte just nodded, her eyes solemn. Soundlessly, the three of them tiptoed out into the night, Delphine at the front and Cosima in the rear, with Charlotte safely between them. They followed the French girl unquestioningly, as she’d had far longer to study the old maps in the long months she’d been captive here. There was only a tiny sliver of moon tonight; but all the snow on the ground did a good job reflecting what little light shone down, and amplifying it. Charlotte was surprisingly adept at picking her way through the dark, snowy woods, considering her bad leg. Delphine supposed that she must have been given the very best physical therapy available from an early age, considering the scientific strictures of her childhood.

            Still, even for an able-bodied adult, it was slow going through the icy woods in the pitch darkness. They had to be so silent as they crept along; every twig that snapped under their feet could be overheard by one of the guards walking the perimeter of the camp all through the night. The blonde doctor had wondered more than once if it was really just about keeping people _in_ , when, up until a few days ago, she’d been the only one not here voluntarily. Or was there someone…some _thing_ …they were also trying to keep out?

            _“Hhiih’chxsht!! *Snghhf.*”_ Cosima clamped one heavily-gloved hand over her face to stifle a sneeze that welled up unexpectedly, followed by a few coughs, which she also muffled as best she could behind her gloves. _Sorry,_ she mouthed when Delphine glanced back questioningly. The French girl waved a hand dismissively, trying to put her at ease, let her know it was okay. What was she supposed to do about it? The frigid air was kicking up the irritation in her newly-healing respiratory system; it was no surprise. She coughed a few times more, face pressed firmly into the sleeve of her thick winter parka to dampen the sound. Eyes closed momentarily, she felt her free hand being grasped tightly by her littlest sister, who was looking up at her anxiously when she opened her eyes again. Cosima could see that Charlotte was worried about her, so she gave the kid a small, stiff smile—the best she could do in the cold night air—and a little wink. Charlotte smiled back, and they continued in silence.

            For maybe half an hour—though it felt much longer in the tense, frozen silence—they picked their way along carefully like this. Cosima’s sniffles and nose-rubs became continuous pretty quickly, but her coughing and sneezing wasn’t as frequent as Delphine had feared; and she did a good job muffling the sound in her heavy gloves and parka sleeves. It was tiring her out, though; the blonde doctor could see that. Finally, when they’d seen nothing but trees for nearly forty minutes, Delphine stopped, causing the other two to stop abruptly too, right behind her.

            “I think it is safe to speak now,” the French girl murmured quietly, putting one hand reassuringly on top of Charlotte’s warm knit hat. “It is going very well, mes chouchous. We are nearly halfway there now. How are you both doing?” 

            “Good,” Charlotte nodded stoically.

            “Awesome,” Cosima chimed in, the stubborn resilience in her voice somewhat undercut by how croaky she sounded.

            “Vraiment?” Delphine raised an eyebrow skeptically. _Really?_ “I think now is a good time to give you some more medicine, mon coeur.”

            “No, I’m okay. I can make it,” Cosima shook her head stubbornly. In some ways, she really was exactly like the rest of her sisters; the whole headstrong lot of them.

            “Oui, I know you _can_ ,” Delphine sighed gently, squeezing her love’s arm to force her to pay attention and make eye contact, breaking her out of her little bubble of self-determination. “But it will be easier if you are breathing more freely, and not worrying over making too much noise. Yes? Please do not argue, puppy.” Cosima looked frustrated and obstinate for a moment, tired of always being the weak link; but she couldn’t ignore the love and caring in her girlfriend’s dark, serious eyes. And what if she _did_ get them caught because she couldn’t stop coughing? She’d never forgive herself. 

            “Okay…you’re right,” the tattooed girl sighed, with a sheepish little smile as Delphine beamed and kissed her cold lips. 

            “If only I could make a recording of this,” Delphine teased.

            “I can admit when you’re right. Don’t be a bitch,” Cosima rolled her eyes playfully.

            “Language,” Charlotte said reprovingly, like a stern little nine-year-old chaperone. 

            “Sorry, monkey.” The shivering dreadlocked girl muffled another croaky cough in her elbow, and wiped her nose on her sleeve. Delphine took off her gloves so she could root through her backpack, coming out with a handful of pills and a small water bottle; Cosima took the meds without further argument, eager to get moving again. “Halfway there, right?” She nodded in determination as she handed the water bottle back to her girlfriend.

            “Nearly,” Delphine smiled bracingly, pulling the pack back across her shoulders. “Charlotte, you have the strength to continue? I can carry you if you need, chouchou. You must only tell me.”

            “I can walk. You don’t have to carry me,” Charlotte shook her head. Delphine wondered privately how much Leda stubbornness was in that answer…but her voice sounded strong, and her hazel eyes were sharp and alert.

            “D’accord,” the blonde woman smiled, giving the little one’s shoulder a gentle squeeze. They continued on in relative quiet, but without the tense tiptoeing of before, when any little sound put them on alert of capture. They were far out in the woods now; the only sounds they heard were hooting owls and the scurrying of small woodland creatures. Nearly another hour went by before they crested a hill that brought the dark ocean into view, glittering gently in the moonlight.

            “Check it out,” Cosima nudged her little sister, squinting through her glasses at the shoreline.

            “Mmhmm,” Charlotte nodded curtly, staring determinedly at the ground in front of her. Cosima and Delphine looked at each other, both raising an eyebrow at the young girl’s obvious trepidation. It was the first time she’d expressed any real hesitation since they’d set out.

            “Hey, it’s okay monkey. You can be scared,” the tattooed girl said gently, putting one gloved hand on her sister’s small back. “We’re right here, we’re not gonna let anything happen to you.”

            “I—I can’t swim, you know,” Charlotte admitted nervously, in a small voice.

            “That’s okay, Char. This is something you don’t know about me, but I grew up on boats. And you know what every boat has? Life jackets,” Cosima smiled encouragingly. “And we’re not planning on doing any swimming, anyway. Trust me.” She didn’t bother adding that the North Atlantic ocean in mid-winter would be cold enough to kill them whether they knew how to swim or not.

            “Okay,” Charlotte nodded bravely, though she still sounded nervous. They pressed on for a few more minutes before Cosima stumbled to a halt with another icy-cold cough, hands clamped firmly over her mouth even though they were confident no one was close enough to hear them now.

            “Shh, you are all right puppy…take a drink of water,” Delphine hummed gently, pulling the small water bottle from her pack again. Cosima took it gratefully.

            “Better?” Delphine asked gently, painfully aware of how little else she could do besides offer her love a sip of water. Cosima’s bright hazel eyes were glazed with exhaustion behind her glasses; and her face had grown flushed and feverish again, her pale skin shining with a thin film of sweat despite the frigid winter air.

            “Uh-huh. Thadks babe,” Cosima smiled weakly as she handed the water back, wiping her nose across the back of her sleeve with a tired sniffle. Delphine wrapped one arm around her and kissed her on the cheek. A branch snapped loudly nearby, much too loudly to be caused by a squirrel or a rabbit. There was also a strange, low growling sound, very faint, but unmistakably close by.

            “What was that?” Charlotte asked shrilly, pressing herself against Delphine’s side and holding onto the blonde woman’s coat with both hands. 

            “Shh. I’m sure it’s nothing,” Delphine assured the little one gently; but she was already reaching inside her coat pocket to wrap her fingers around the scalpel she’d carried from the yurt, the only weapons they had available. “Stay here with your sister, chouchou. Just for a moment.” The French girl gently pushed the smaller figure into Cosima’s arms, who held onto her tightly. The two of them looked at each other for a moment, sharing an unspoken question. Whatever was out there, it sounded big, and it sounded close. Cosima had a scalpel in her pocket, too; but how much help would a scalpel be against—what? A wolf?

            “Babe…be careful,” Cosima murmured, pulling her little sister securely into her arms. Delphine just nodded. They became very still, as the French girl inched closer to the source of the sound, just behind the next stand of trees. The sound was hard to place…was it really an animal? It almost sounded like a person…like someone who was hurt?

            “Allo?” Delphine called quietly into the darkness, her accent coming out much more strongly as her mind was clouded with fear. “Is someone there? We will not hurt you…” A few birds took off into the sky from the tree directly in front of her, and the odd, keening sound stopped. Delphine looked back at Cosima uncertainly. She saw the horror in her girlfriend’s eyes almost before she was aware of the movement from the tree behind her, as a dark shape pounced out at her with a furious howl. Charlotte screamed. Delphine was flat on her back in the snow before she had time to react, the scalpel knocked out of her hand before she’d even had a chance to think about using it. The thing on top of her was strong, its hot breath on her neck as it screamed, pinning her down with its hands holding her arms against the snow. _Hands?_ No. Animals didn’t have hands…

            Before Delphine could complete a full thought, before she had any idea what she was going to do, the creature—or was it a person?—jerked its large body with a howl of agony, rolling off her and crumpling to the snow. Delphine scrambled to her feet, panting, to stand beside Cosima, whose gloved hand was now dripping blood.

            “I lost my scalpel,” Cosima panted, with another sharp cough that echoed through the frozen night. She wasn’t about to cover her face right now to muffle the sound, she needed to see what was happening every second. “But I got it. In the neck, I think…are you okay, puppy? Are you hurt?”

            “Non…I am fine,” Delphine gasped, her heart pounding frantically in her chest as she squeezed her love’s arm gratefully. Charlotte’s small hands held tight to Delphine’s coat again. As their eyes adjusted to the sight of the creature on the snowy ground, the outline of a human shape became clear…as well as the clothes on his back, the boots on his feet.

            “Hey…dude? Um, you okay down there?” Cosima called tentatively, creeping closer to the figure on the ground, a small pool of blood collecting in the moonlight. She reached down and picked up the scalpel that had been knocked out of her hand. “I’m sorry I had to hurt you, I didn’t want to…we just had to protect ourselves, okay?” She crept a little closer. The man—or the creature, or whatever it was—howled in pain and fury.

            “Stop!” a new voice screamed, young and frightened, as a smallish figure appeared out of the darkness, smacking the blade out of Cosima’s hands with the long end of a shotgun. “Don’t hurt him!”

            “…Mud?” Cosima said quietly, frowning into the darkness. “Is that you?" 

            “It’s not his fault,” the young girl shook her head, her breath fast and frantic in the cold air. “It’s not his fault he’s like this. Someone had to set him free.”

            “Okay…I hear you,” Cosima said slowly, holding her hands up in submission, unsure if the other girl could even see it in the darkness. “We don’t want to hurt him, either. We just want to leave. Please just let us leave,” the dreadlocked girl begged quietly.

            “Nobody leaves,” the girl called Mud said quietly, sounding confused, and scared. “They’re looking for you, you know. If I bring you back…maybe they’ll let Yannis go.”

            “Yannis? Is that your name?” Cosima spoke to the figure huddled on the ground now, ignoring Mud for a moment even though she had a gun trained on them. “Who did this to you, Yannis? Was it Westmoreland?” The large, frightening-looking figure shuddered at the mention of Westmoreland’s name, confirming Cosima’s suspicions. “I’m so sorry, Yannis…I’m so sorry he hurt you.” She looked back up at Mud. Behind her, Charlotte was crying, her face buried in Delphine’s coat.

            “This is how Westmoreland keeps his fountain of youth flowing…by locking people up against their will and experimenting on them. That’s what happened to Yannis, isn’t it? That’s what will happen to me and my sister if you bring us back there, Mud. You know that.”

            “No, no…P.T. is a good man…he saved me…he saved all of us…”

            “Not all of us,” Cosima said gravely, taking a step back and gripping one of Delphine’s hands tightly in her own. “Not Yannis. If you want to help him, Mud, if you really do…you can’t help Westmoreland.” Mud looked back and forth between the mutilated man on the ground, and the three figures huddled helplessly in front of her. Slowly, her shotgun lowered to the ground. Cosima sniffled softly, trying not to make a sound.

            “Yannis…I’m going to help you, okay?” Mud said quietly, kneeling down in the snow in front of him. “You remember me, don’t you?” She still held her gun, but it was pointing at the ground now. Cosima put her arms back protectively over Charlotte and Delphine, pushing them quietly backwards, one step at a time…then, just as it seemed like maybe they were really going to be able to just walk away, she shivered and jerked her hands back over her face, muffling a soft, hitching sneeze in the frozen night air. Delphine reacted so fast, it was like she already knew what was going to happen next, pulling Cosima and Charlotte to the ground in the sliver of a second before Mud’s gun jerked back up wildly and blasted a shot over their heads into the moonlight. A whole flock of noisy birds took off from the tree behind them at the booming sound, as if the gunshot itself wasn’t loud enough to draw attention from the village. 

            “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Cosima groaned between her sniffles, while Delphine ran her hands frantically over her love’s body, then Charlotte’s smaller one, assuring herself that the gunshot hadn’t hit them in the darkness. While Delphine consoled a terrified Charlotte, Cosima stood up and grabbed the gun from Mud’s hands. The young girl was limp with shock; it was more than obvious that she’d never fired a gun before.

            “I wasn’t really going to hurt you,” Mud whispered, looking up at Cosima helplessly.

            “Just go. Get out of here. Help him, if you can.” Cosima didn’t point the gun at the girl who’d just held them captive a moment ago; instead she held it deliberately at her side, proving that she would not allow herself to be sucked into this deadly power trip. “If you really care about helping the innocent, you won’t tell anyone you saw us.”

            “It won’t matter. They’ll have heard the shot. They’ll be coming this way,” Mud shook her head. “Just go. Run.” Cosima stared at her for a moment, her mind racing for a way to help these poor innocents, too; but Delphine’s hand was tugging her arm, and she snapped back to the reality of the situation. Without any goodbyes, they turned and ran towards the boathouse.

 

           


	6. The Boathouse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey clone club! Sorry for the long wait time on this chap; my little sis came to visit me her last week before college, and then after she left I got super fucking sick. No gene therapy or maggot-bots needed, lol, but I did get a chest x-ray and a shit-ton of antibiotics. It hasn’t been fun. But I’m finally feeling better today…as in, I can form a coherent thought in my brain and sit up to type it. You’re welcome. Enjoy!
> 
> Also--can someone plz explain to me how to make my fics show up on the ao3feed-cophine on tumblr? I thought it was somehow automatic but I just realized nothing I post is showing up there!

 

* * *

 

            “Stop. Stop,” Delphine panted, her fast breath clouding the moonlight. She had grabbed Charlotte up into her arms the moment Cosima started running, not thinking about anything in that moment beyond _escape now_. But she couldn’t run very far and carry the nine-year-old at the same time, especially in the snow, in the dark…and ahead of her, Cosima was coughing and wheezing and Delphine was terrified she was going to pass out in the snow any second.

            “Yeah…okay…” The dreadlocked girl panted, leaning forward with her hands on her knees to steady herself for a moment as the coughing overtook her whole body, and she felt a flash of fear stabbing through her chest along with the pain. She couldn’t get enough air. It wasn’t supposed to be like this anymore.

            “I’m right here, I’ve got you,” the French girl said quietly, setting Charlotte down to wrap one arm around Cosima’s back, her soothing voice masking how scared she really was. She had to be strong now, for Cosima and for Charlotte.

            “It’s okay…I’m okay,” the tattooed girl panted weakly, letting herself lean against Delphine for a moment as her head spun dizzily from lack of oxygen.

            “You are not okay. You must rest a moment,” the blonde girl said sternly, her driving need to protect Cosima overtaking everything, even the instinct to run from danger.

            “We can’t rest, they’re…they’re coming…” Another round of bone-rattling coughs. 

            “Not this second. Even if they were already searching the woods, we would have heard them already if they were close by. We are past the tree line now, see? We will see them coming, there is nowhere to hide. Please just breathe, mon coeur. Breathe…shh…” Delphine held Cosima steady with one arm wrapped around her, and Cosima finally stopped fighting, focusing instead on trying to control her coughing.

            “Cosima? …are you still gonna be okay?” Charlotte asked, coming up on the tattooed girl’s other side and putting one hand gently on her arm, scared and powerless and determined to help. 

            “Yeah…yeah…sorry…” As Cosima’s rapid heartbeat slowed and her breathing became less ragged, the coughing finally eased off. “Uhhh,” she sighed wearily. “So, no running for Cosima…got it.”

            “We do not need to run, mon coeur. Look.” Delphine gestured to a spot on the shoreline, where they could just make out a dark shape at the edge of the water.

            “Is that the boathouse?” Charlotte asked, sounding awestruck. As if she couldn’t quite believe this was all real, that they might have really made it.

            “Yes, sweet one. If we only walk briskly, they will get there before anyone can reach us.”

            “So let’s walk. I’m good, okay?” Cosima’s eyes were sharp and clear, and for the moment Delphine trusted that she was being honest about how much she could take.

            “Come.” Delphine held out her gloved hand, and Cosima took it. They made their way steadily across the moonlit outcroppings of the island in silence, the shadowy shape of the boathouse finally coming into focus in the dark night when they were practically on top of it. It looked like a garage, but over the water. Suddenly, they all looked up at the sound of muffled shouts in the distance.

            “Merde.” Delphine looked over her shoulder at the cluster of flashlights cresting the horizon behind them; the search party from the village was closing in. She felt Cosima’s hand tighten in hers, trying to pull her forward and break into a run again. But Delphine tugged back, refusing to go any faster.

            “Delphine, come _on_ ,” the tattooed girl begged, pulling harder; but she was a very small person, and she hadn’t exactly been doing kickboxing classes lately while her body was wasting away from the Leda disease. She was no match for Delphine’s strength right now.

            “No. We will walk,” The French girl shook her head stubbornly. “We can make it. We can walk quickly.”

            “I’m not going back there,” Cosima growled, a familiar glint of steely determination in her eyes.

            “Oui. Which is why you must keep breathing, chérie. If you pass out, I cannot steer the boat without you, I do not know what to do. You must stay with me, Cosima. Look at me.” Delphine took Cosima’s pale face in both hands, forcing her to stop panicking for a moment with a quick, hard kiss. They stared at each other in silence for a beat.

            “Okay. Come on.” Cosima took Delphine’s hand again, and on her other side Charlotte gripped her glove holding the medical cooler, the little one’s bad leg swinging as quickly as possible over the snowy ground. The sound of a gunshot cracked through the night air, and Charlotte screamed.

            “It’s okay monkey, they won’t really hurt us,” Cosima panted, her breath already becoming ragged again as her heart rate picked up in the frigid winter night. “They’re just…trying to scare us…just keep going…”

            “Okay,” Charlotte sniffed, trying to be brave like her sister, trying not to cry…but the tears still blurred her eyes, and her bad leg caught in a rut in the icy ground, and she went down hard with a sharp cry of pain. Delphine immediately scooped her up, barely breaking her stride. 

            “Hold onto me, chouchou. Hold on tight,” the blonde girl commanded, in a tone that was both soothing and somehow authoritative at the same time, making it clear this was not a suggestion. Charlotte locked her arms around Delphine’s neck and put her head down, breathing hard into her hair. “Good girl,” Delphine murmured, hoisting the little one more tightly into her arms. It would have been easier to carry her piggyback-style…but Delphine and Cosima already carried backpacks filled with the bare essentials they would need to survive, they couldn’t discard them now. Cosima put one hand on Delphine’s back, silently giving support as they persisted on relentlessly. 

            But even though they were moving as quickly as they could, Cosima with her icy wheezing, Delphine with Charlotte in her arms, it wasn’t fast enough. The search party was catching up with them, their shouts becoming closer every minute.

            “Stop or I’ll shoot!” One of the men’s voices sliced through the black night, sharply clear now, and another booming gunshot into the air told them in no uncertain terms that he was close enough to shoot them if he wanted to. With the awareness of the shotguns pointed straight at their backs, they stopped, heartbeats pounding so loud in their ears it almost drowned everything out. Almost.

            “Turn around!” The same voice said as the shuffling of many footsteps approached. Slowly, nervously, they turned to face their pursuers. Delphine locked her arms more tightly around Charlotte’s small body.

            “Please, we just want to leave,” Cosima begged, too angry to cry. “Please just let us leave.”

            “After everything Mr. Westmoreland has done for you…you think you can just steal from him? From all of us?” Another angry voice came from the small mob, as one of the men pushed his way to the front.

            “What are you talking about?” Cosima frowned in confusion. The man pushed forward and grabbed the small medical cooler out of her hand. The one that held their gene therapy. Which they still needed if they wanted to live.

            “Don’t! Please, I need that! That’s mine!” Cosima yelled, panic overtaking her whole body as she was physically separated from her lifeline.

            “You’re lying,” another voice yelled from the angry mob.

            “No I’m not! That’s my gene therapy, mine and my sisters’. _I_ created it, not Westmoreland, I brought it here with me. It’s keeping me alive. Please, you can’t take it!” The men looked at each other uncertainly, inaudible grumblings rising into the air.

            “Why would Mr. Westmoreland lie to us all? He saved our lives, he has the fountain of youth. He doesn’t need to steal from anyone.”

            “It’s all a lie. All of it,” Cosima shook her head, putting all her chips on the table. “There is no fountain of youth. Only a secret lab where Westmoreland and his team conduct illegal human experiments on people who never gave consent. Like me…like my sister.” Cosima put her hand on Charlotte’s trembling back, daring anyone to move in on them.

            “That’s not true. It’s not true!” The men were arguing among themselves now, as certainty ebbed away and loyalties questioned…were they really willing to attack women and children on Westmoreland’s orders?

            A terrifying howl ripped through the night air then, and they could hear Mud’s frightened voice shouting as the huge, frightening form of Yannis jumped in front of them, putting his large body between the girls and their attackers. He was…he was protecting them.

            “Don’t shoot him!” Cosima and Mud both yelled at the same time as the men all raised their rifles. The moonlight cast enough of a glow across Yannis’s face to illuminate his ugly, misshapen brown teeth, his scarred, bald head; his face covered in blotches and boils. He looked like a monster, not a victim.

            “You want to know where Westmoreland’s fountain of youth really comes from?” Cosima cried out beseechingly to the confused, angry mob. “It’s from people like Yannis. People he’s brought here against their will to experiment on for his own gain. This man was locked in Westmoreland’s basement before Mud set him free…probably for years. That’s what will happen to me and my sister if you take us back.” Cosima was shivering with fear and adrenalin, and she coughed hard, fighting not to let her breathing get away from her.

            “It’s not true!”

            “It can’t be…”

            “But where did he come from…?” Arguing broke out among the confused mob, their attention split now without a clear goal anymore.

            “Go now,” Mud whispered, grabbing Cosima’s arm tight. _“Go.”_ The dreadlocked girl didn’t need to be told twice, and she gritted her teeth, slipping her small body between the arguing men and grabbing the medical cooler from the loose grip of the man who was now holding it. She took off running through the snow as fast as her aching lungs would allow her; she could hear Delphine’s footsteps and fast breath right behind her.     The yells of the angry men were close on their heels. Suddenly a heavy weight was crashing into Cosima’s shoulder, a large hand closing over her grip on the cooler; and she jerked it back as hard as she could, sending the cooler flying through the air…and landing with a splash in the lapping tides that were now just feet away.

            “Let. Me. _GO!”_ Cosima snarled, pulling her hand from the man’s grip so he was only holding onto her glove. He immediately lunged at her again…but then Yannis appeared out of the moonlit mob, throwing his huge body across their attacker’s. Before Cosima even had time to react, she heard a splash, and turned to see Delphine walking out waist-deep into the freezing ocean to save the cooler…to save their cure.

            “Delphine, come back! Are you crazy?” Cosima screamed, her voice hoarse now as adrenalin surged through her, forcing her weary, battered body forward again to the shoreline, where Charlotte stood helpless and terrified.

            “I almost…h-h-have it…” Delphine panted, colder than she had ever been in her life as she reached out across the gently lapping water…and her gloved hand closed over the cooler’s handle. She turned and stumbled back through the water as fast as her numbed legs would allow her, dripping from the waist down as she half-fell into Cosima’s arms. The mob was focused on Yannis now, the sounds of screaming and fighting filled the air behind them, there were gunshots…but the three of them didn’t look back. They just kept moving, stumbling onto the short pier that lead to the wooden door of the small boathouse.

            “In,” Cosima commanded, taking charge now that they were finally somewhere she knew what to do. She helped Delphine step down first, awkward and stumbling and numb with cold; she handed her the cooler first, then Charlotte, un-tethering the small boat from the lead line before jumping down herself.

            “Charlotte, put this on now,” the dreadlocked girl said in her most authoritative voice, shoving a lifejacket into her little sister’s arms. “Delphine, sit. We’ll get you warmed up in a minute, baby. Just hang tight a little longer, it’s gonna be okay.” Cosima coughed again, but she didn’t stop what she was doing, confidence surging through her as she turned the key in the ignition, and the motor roared to life.

            “Do you really know how to drive this?” Charlotte asked worriedly as she tightened the straps on her lifejacket and sat down in one of the rear seats.

            “Oh yeah, don’t you worry about that monkey. I learned to drive a boat before I could drive a car.” Cosima turned and grinned at her frightened little sister, a full-on, cocky, bright-eyed grin, despite the dire situation. Charlotte visibly relaxed, nodding and sitting back in her seat. Cosima revved the motor, and they were out of the boathouse like a shot, arcing across the water. She didn’t go very far, though; as soon as the shoreline was out of sight, she stopped, turning toward her blue-lipped, shivering girlfriend.

            “Okay puppy, now let’s take care of you before _you_ get hypothermia, too,” the tattooed girl sighed, with a smile of pure devotion as she put one hand on Delphine’s cold cheek.

            “We c-cannot stop now, Cosima, you m-m-must keep going,” Delphine stuttered through her shivers, gritting her teeth. “They will come after us…”

            “Yeah, not in the next five minutes. This was the only boat, and the helicopter pad is way back on the other end of the island. No one is coming. And I am _not_ letting you freeze to death out here. I owe you, babe. Now take off your pants.” Cosima opened one of the backpacks and began pulling things out, tightly rolled changes of clothes, a water bottle…and a thin, silver-lined emergency blanket. Though it was as thin as a sheet of plastic, Cosima knew from experience how warm these emergency blankets were, reflecting and conserving 90% of your body heat. She stood up and started unbuckling her own jeans, too.

            “W-what are you doing?” Delphine asked in confusion, her cold hands still fumbling with her zipper. Cosima finished pulling off her jeans and long underwear, immediately wracked with shivers as she turned to help her girlfriend.

            _“Jesus motherfucking Christ_ , it’s fucking cold,” the tattooed girl gasped as she stood up bare-legged in the frozen night air in the middle of the ocean, naked from the waist down now except for her underwear. It was a testament to the seriousness of their situation that Charlotte didn’t reprimand her sister for swearing. “I’m going to keep you warm, puppy. Just like you did for me. We’re g-gonna b-be okay…” Cosima was shivering too as she unfolded the thin silver blanket, laying it across the driver’s seat. “Sit,” she commanded again, pulling on Delphine’s arm to move her over to the other seat, and pushing her shaking body down. Then she sat in Delphine’s lap, biting her lip hard to keep from crying at how painfully cold her girlfriend’s skin was against her own. Then she wrapped the silver blanket around them both, leaning back against Delphine and pulling the taller girl’s arms around her waist. The warmth was shocking and immediate. Still, Cosima well remembered that re-heating a hypothermic body wasn’t instantaneous. 

            “Can you hold onto me, baby?” She asked gently, her hands still tight over Delphine’s.

            “Yes…I can hold on,” Delphine nodded, still shivering as she pressed her face into the back of Cosima’s neck. At least her breath was still warm. “Thank you, mon amour…”

            “Are you kidding me? You just saved my life, _again_. Plus, you know, literally all my sisters…except for Sarah and Helena, I guess. You saved our cure. Delphine Cormier…you’re my hero.” Cosima gave a little laugh that came out as a sob, as she shifted slightly in Delphine’s lap so she could turn her head enough to kiss her, everything else forgotten for an instant as they warmed each other’s cold lips. They shivered and held each other for a moment, rubbing their legs together to try to increase the body heat inside the reflective blanket.

            “How are we going to know which way to steer the boat now?” Charlotte asked anxiously, glancing around at the endless ocean in every direction, holding tight to the side rail even though they weren’t moving. Cosima grinned and pulled a compass from her coat pocket.

            “C’mere monkey, come sit here next to us in the passenger seat. I’ll give you your first lesson in nautical navigation. See, it’s a clear night…all we need are the stars. We just have to follow the compass.”

            “Really?” Charlotte asked in awe, sounding more excited than frightened now as she carefully made her way to the front end of the boat, taking the empty seat beside Cosima and Delphine.

            “Mm-hmm.” Cosima coughed again, but she didn’t lose her breath. “Here, just hold it, and I’ll show you…” The little boat roared back to life, and Delphine tightened her grip around Cosima’s waist. “Next stop…home.”

 

           

 

           


	7. Homeward Bound

  

            _“Hh-hhiit **chxtsh**!! *Snghhf*…”_ Cosima wrapped her arm across her face to cover another weary sneeze, followed by a fresh bout of raspy coughs into the folded cloth from her pocket. Delphine could feel the rattling in her girlfriend’s chest through the back of her parka.

            “Was that blood?” The French doctor asked sharply, hugging her girlfriend’s body a little tighter against her inside the warmth of the thin reflective blanket they shared.

            “Ndoe. _*Snghf.*”_  

            “Let me see.” 

            “You think I’m lying?”

            “Possibly.”

            “Well I’mb not, okay?”

            “Then why won’t you let me see?” 

            “Because if I keep showing you my snot every five minutes, we’re never gonna have sex again,” Cosima whined, cranky and exhausted from being up all night, shivering in the icy north Atlantic air. “Please just take my word for it, babe. I’m just regular gross now, okay, not bloody dying gross.”

            “You are not _gross_ at all, chérie,” Delphine hummed, dropping her chin onto Cosima’s shoulder and hugging her tighter, then pressing a kiss to her cold cheek. “I am only worried…you should have had your next injection by now, I do not know how long it will be before your new DNA begins to break down again. Even if that does not happen, your lungs are still weak, you are still at risk for infection. And you never tell me when you are feeling worse…I have to wait until you pass out in my arms to know when you need help.” 

            “I know, I know…I’m sorry, puppy,” Cosima sighed, letting her head drop back against her girlfriend’s shoulder and leaning into her gratefully, still keeping their little boat cruising along down the darkened Canadian coast. It was nearing 6am now; the sun would have to start rising soon. “I’m just trying to get us home…then we can _both_ pass out and stop worrying about anything. We just have to stay strong ‘till then…there’s nothing else we can do. Is Charlotte still sleeping?”

            “Miraculously, yes,” Delphine smiled weakly as she glanced back at the child curled up peacefully in the back of the boat, wrapped up in layers and layers of extra bundled sweaters and the other emergency blanket, like a little cocoon. Her breath was visible in the icy night air, rising and falling evenly. “I do not know how she does it.” 

            “I do,” Cosima sighed wistfully, stiffening slightly as she drew her arm back across her face and sneezed again, then coughed for a minute after. “Ughh…sorry. _*Snf.*”_ The blonde girl just hugged her love tighter, pressing another kiss to the side of her face.

            “Shh, you should not be sorry, puppy. You should not be out here at all, you should be bundled up warm in bed, and I should be bringing you tea and pastries. It was not supposed to be like this,” Delphine’s voice broke a little, and Cosima realized she was crying.

            “Hey…don’t cry, baby,” the dreadlocked girl murmured, taking her foot off the gas for the first time in hours to turn slightly in her girlfriend’s lap, holding her face in one hand and pressing their cold foreheads together. “I’ll be okay, we’ll all be okay…we made it, we’re free, we’ll be home soon. We really will. You’re just so tired…and you’re still half-frozen. How do _you_ feel, huh?”

            “I will be fine too,” Delphine sniffed, attempting a brave smile that didn’t quite reach her exhausted eyes. Cosima snorted a little and raised an eyebrow.

            “You got so used to worrying about me, you forgot that I get to worry about _you_ , too. You don’t have to be strong all the time…not every minute.”

            “Oui…I do know this,” Delphine admitted, with a soft sigh as Cosima kissed a few of her tears away. “But it is worse for me, watching you suffer, worse than my own pains…I would take it all for myself, if I could. You have been strong for so long, you came to the edge of the world, you worked yourself to the bone to find your cure. And now…now I only want for you to have the best recovery you can have, mon petit chiot. I want to spoil you and give you everything you want to make you feel better…that it how it should be now.”

            “Aww, puppy…” Cosima was the one with tears in her eyes now; but the smile on her face was real. “It will be that way. Soon. And you _can_ start giving me what I want right now, you know.”

            “Yes? What do you want, mon coeur?” Delphine asked, her eyes brightening hopefully for the first time in hours. Cosima grinned, and pulled the blonde girl’s head down to steal a kiss.

            “See…happy Cosima,” the tattooed girl teased gently, with a little giggle that turned into a cough. But it wasn’t a bad one, and Delphine humored her by ignoring it.

            “You are…what is the expression? You are an easy date,” Delphine teased back, smiling too.

            “Only for you,” Cosima smirked. In the back of the boat, Charlotte stirred, sitting up in her cozy little nest.

            “Why’re we stopped…? Are we home?” the little one yawned, sounding sleepy and excited at the same time. 

            “Getting closer, monkey face.” Cosima shifted in Delphine’s lap so she could turn and look at her little sister, assessing her face, the alertness in her eyes. The kid had the heart of a lion…she really was a Leda. “How are you feeling, Char?”

            “I’m hungry.” Cosima laughed a little, without coughing this time.

            “Yeah, it’s been a long night, huh? Tell you what…we’re gonna hit land in an hour or two, okay? We made it all the way to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, do you know where that is?”

            “Uh-uh,” Charlotte shook her head.

            “It means we’re almost back to civilization,” Cosima explained with a smile, getting a fresh burst of energy as she thought about how far they’d come. “We’re gonna ride right to Québec, and then we’ll send the boat back up the coast on autopilot, so if anyone did follow us, it’ll throw them off the trail. First thing we do on land is find someplace to get breakfast, okay?” 

            “But how will we get from Québec all the way to Toronto?”

            “Don’t worry. I know a guy.” Cosima coughed into her elbow again, and Delphine cuddled her tight with a kiss on the cheek, nudging her to drink a little water from the backpack sitting between the seats. Charlotte strapped her leg brace back on and stumbled sleepily back to the front of the boat, the thin blanket still wrapped around her as she resumed her seat beside them.

            “I’m gonna order a chocolate croissant,” Charlotte said enthusiastically as she sat down and looked toward the lightening horizon. Delphine laughed this time.

            “She is definitely your sister, no?” The French girl teased her love, as they re-settled themselves and Cosima revved the little engine, all of them weary but determined as they resumed their course south through the dark water.

 

* * *

                       

            Dawn was just breaking when they pulled up to the quiet little pier on the outskirts of Québec, surrounded by woods up and down the coastline. There were two small fishing boats tethered there, and a little supply shack, proving that the spot wasn’t abandoned; but probably rarely used. There were no other buildings in sight, but they could see lights through the trees that proved there were houses nearby. Cosima and Delphine finally gave up the warmth of their little body-heat cocoon inside the reflective blanket, both of them shivering through gritted teeth as they pulled on fresh clothes.

            “We should try to do some jumping jacks or something,” Cosima suggested halfheartedly, her voice very croaky now. “To get our blood moving, you know?”

            “I do not think…that is very realistic,” Delphine shook her head with a small smile, stumbling as she took Cosima’s hand and allowed herself to be pulled out of the boat after Charlotte. “We will walk to the road, that is the most my blood can move at the moment.” Cosima nodded, closing her eyes briefly with another rattling cough into her elbow. She looked so tired. The blonde doctor felt another pang of regret for bringing her beloved girl out into the frozen winter wilderness like this, wanting nothing in that moment but to put her back to bed. _Soon_ , Delphine told herself again. 

            “Just a sec…” The tattooed girl called, and laid down right on the end of the dock, leaning over the edge to send away the little boat that had kept them safe through the night.

            “Careful!” Delphine admonished, dropping down to the dock too and sitting on Cosima’s legs to keep her from toppling into the frigid water.

            “I know what I’m doing,” Cosima grumbled, but she didn’t resist her girlfriend’s assistance. They watched the little boat humming away through the dark water in silence for a moment.

            “Bye, boat,” Charlotte said softly. Delphine pulled Cosima upright with her, both of them stiff with cold, running on nothing but adrenalin and stubbornness now. Cosima wrapped her arms around her little sister, resting her chin briefly on top of the younger girl’s head as they watched the little boat disappear into the dim horizon.

            “Bye, boat,” the dreadlocked girl echoed her sister’s words softly. She felt Delphine’s arm wrap around her shoulders, squeezing her tight for a moment as they all stood huddled together in silence. “Okay…” Cosima finally sighed, letting go of Charlotte and standing up straight. “Let’s get out of here and find some breakfast.”

            They didn’t walk along the road for long before a kindly old farmer picked them up and gave them a ride to a small diner on his way to the local grain and feed store. He seemed to accept their story of getting lost on a boating trip, and pushed a small bundle of cash into Delphine’s hands as they got out, refusing to take it back and insisting that they all get a hot breakfast while they waited for their family to come get them. They made quite a sight stumbling into the little diner; but luckily there was hardly anyone around to see them, just as they’d hoped when they chose such a small, rural landing place. They didn’t have to wait long; Cosima’s coughing drew the attention of the waitress quickly.

            “Tea, hon?” the older woman asked kindly as she seated them in a cozy booth, putting three plastic menus down in the middle of the table.

            “Yeah, thanks,” Cosima smiled sheepishly, with a weary sniffle. 

            “Can I have hot cocoa with marshmallows?” Charlotte asked eagerly, the least bedraggled-looking of the three of them as she was the only one who’d gotten any sleep, and managed to completely avoid hypothermia, thanks to her two fierce protectors.

            “You sure can, doll,” the waitress smiled at Charlotte’s almost elated expression, having no idea what the three of them had gone through just to get here, warm and safe and hundreds of miles from the frightening place where they’d started. “For you?” She asked Delphine.

            “Coffee. Merci,” the French girl sighed, looking just as exhausted as Cosima.

            “That’s what I’m here for,” the waitress waved her off lightly. “The three of you all look like you could do with some warming up. I’ll be right back to take your order.” They way they smiled at her as she walked off, you’d think she’d just offered them a cruise to the Bahamas.

            “They don’t have chocolate croissants,” Charlotte said in disappointment as she looked over the laminated menu. 

            “Oui, they do chouchou,” Delphine nodded, pulling off her heavy coat and leaning forward to point out what the little one was looking for. “You see here? Pain au chocolat.”

            “It’s in French?”

            “Mm-hmm. There is much French here in Québec. Did you notice the road signs were all bilingual?”

            “We didn’t drive the boat to Europe by mistake, did we?” Charlotte asked uncertainly. Delphine giggled a little.

            “No, sweet one, we are not in Europe. I promise you.” Delphine smiled reassuringly. Cosima wrapped her arm across her face again to cover a croaky sneeze, shivering in her seat despite the warmth of the cozy diner.

            “Here, puppy, time to give you more medicine.” Delphine unzipped her backpack and shook out a small handful of pills, wishing fiercely for a bottle of prescription-grade cough syrup and an albuterol inhaler…and a humidifier, and a fresh round of antibiotics… _Soon_ , the blonde doctor reminded herself again, her attention focused entirely on giving her sick puppy the best care possible, even under these less than ideal circumstances.

            “Why bother? It’s barely going to make a difference,” Cosima grumbled, taking a few napkins from the table to wipe her nose. 

            “Oui, this may be true…but we must still do what we can. Soon we will be home and snug, and I can give you all the things I cannot give you here, mon coeur.” The regret in Delphine’s voice was unmistakable, and suddenly Cosima felt guilty for being cranky and resistant.

            “You’re right, I’mb sorry,” she sighed, taking the pills submissively and swallowing them all down in one gulp.

            “Good puppy,” Delphine smiled wearily, leaning in to steal a kiss. “I will go and call Siobhan now, yes?”

            “Who’s that?” Charlotte asked curiously. 

            “She is your sister Sarah’s foster mother, sweet one. Kira’s grandmother. She will send someone for us.”

            “And then we’ll be home?”

            “Then we will be home,” Delphine agreed, kissing the top of the little girl’s head as she stood and made her way to the pay phone in the back of the room. By the time she got back, Charlotte was busy with her cocoa and Cosima was fast asleep with her head resting against the side of the booth, her tea cooling in front of her.

            “She still doesn’t feel good,” Charlotte observed quietly as Delphine sat down again, assessing the fever-flush returning to Cosima’s pale face now that she wasn’t half-frozen anymore.

            “Oui…she will feel better when we are home, chouchou. I will be able to take care of her properly, she will be just fine. And so will you, after I give you both the rest of your shots.” She raised an eyebrow and grinned, tapping the medical cooler carrying their gene therapy on the seat next to her.

            “What about you?” Charlotte asked. 

            “I do not have your disease, ma poulette. It is genetic. Only you and your sisters can get it,” Delphine explained patiently, smiling at the little one’s concern.

            “No, I know. I just meant—who’s gonna take care of you when we get home? You don’t look so good, either.”

            “I am only cold and tired. We will sleep on the way home, yes? Then we will all feel much better.” Charlotte raised an eyebrow, and Delphine could practically hear Cosima’s voice saying _bullshit_ , their ‘yeah right’ expression was exactly the same. Delphine smiled wearily in defeat. “We will all take care of each other. Yes?”

            “Uh-huh,” Charlotte nodded happily, taking another gulp of her cocoa. “So maybe you should sit down now and order some food.” Delphine laughed out loud at the little one’s totally unselfconscious bossiness; that wasn’t something they’d seen in her before. It actually reminded the French girl of Alison a bit, and it warmed her even more than the coffee to think of all the love waiting for them back in Toronto. All they had to do now was wait for Benjamin. All the worrying and whispering and plotting was finally over.

            “All right, mon petit chou. What should we order, hmm?” Delphine slid into the booth next to Cosima, who was still passed out asleep with her mouth half open like a little kid.

            “Can I have bacon and eggs to go with my chocolate croissant?” 

            “Of course, mon coeur.”

            “Do you like chocolate croissants, Auntie Delphine?”

            “Oui, I do, but right now I think I prefer without the chocolate.” Charlotte looked at her like she’d flat-out lost her mind. Delphine laughed, and Cosima stirred beside her; but before she even opened her eyes, she started coughing.

            “Pauvre petit chiot,” Delphine murmured, running her fingers gently up and down Cosima’s back while she got her breath back, and took a sleepy sip of the still-warm tea.

            “I totally forgot where we were for a second…” the dreadlocked girl yawned softly, taking off her glasses to rub drowsily at her eyes. “When I woke up…for a second I thought I was back in school, and I fell asleep in class.”

            “You go to school?” Charlotte raised an eyebrow skeptically. “But you’re a grownup.”

            “Yeah, well if you’re a big enough geek, you can go to school for a pretty long time,” Cosima explained with a sleepy grin. “When you go to college, you get an undergraduate degree. But then if you want to, you can get all kinds of post-graduate degrees, like a Master’s or a Doctorate. That’s what I was getting, a Doctorate in Biology. Evolutionary Development. You have to be really interested in what you’re studying, though…you have to come up with an idea for a really, really big paper about your topic.”

            “You _were_ studying biology—but then you stopped?” Charlotte asked innocently, drinking more of her cocoa. Cosima looked at Delphine, and they laced their fingers together in silent triumph, sharing a dazed, sleep-deprived smile.

            “Well…I didn’t _stop_ studying, I just changed topics a little. I couldn’t study the Leda disease at school, it’s all top secret and stuff. But now that we’ve got the cure…once we’re all better…and we’ve cured all our sisters…I can go back and finish my PhD.”

            “You should win a Nobel Prize for this cure. This is better than any dissertation, you should get your diploma now,” Delphine shook her head, grinning at Cosima’s obvious pleasure at the compliment. It wasn’t an exaggeration, and they both knew it.

            “Yeah, well, top-secret dissertations don’t go over too well with the review committee, huh? Can’t exactly share my research,” Cosima sighed, but she didn’t sound angry about it. She didn’t need a gold star for this. The reward was getting to live, getting to see her sisters live. No degree was better than that. “And anyway, before any of that we have to find all our sisters so we can cure them, too. That’s gonna take a while.”

            Further discussion of top-secret clone plans were temporarily paused then as the waitress came back to take their order, and after she left, Cosima yawned and took her glasses off again, resting her head on Delphine’s shoulder. When the waitress returned with their food, she found both adults fast asleep, slumped together with Delphine’s cheek resting against the top of Cosima’s head. Charlotte looked up and smiled knowingly at the waitress.

            “Shh,” the little one whispered, pressing a finger to her lips. The older woman gave her a wink, and quietly placed the food on the table; it would still be there when they woke up. Charlotte reached for her pastries happily, content to wait. She had nothing to fear now.

           

 

         


End file.
